Signs are everywhere that Colorado’s blooming marijuana industry has gone from the thing few felt comfortable talking about to a mainstream business promising huge financial rewards.

Despite the entrepreneurial activity and the huge influx of cash, the Feds still officially regard marijuana production and sale as a crime.

One of the clearest examples lies in what’s going on at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. When the first medicinal marijuana shops began cropping up a decade or so ago, some of them, like any well-advised business, sought protection of their name under a federal trademark registration.

New Frontier Financial CEO Giadha DeCarcer with her new ally, The ArcView Group CEO Troy Dayton. (Credit: Ben Lin Photography)

Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer saw the data powering big-money decisions to back private companies or consider public buyouts and wondered why there no one was doing the same for the legal cannabis industry.

Since its legalization, recreational marijuana dispensaries have been popping up all over the state of Colorado. If you're a tourist in Colorado looking to purchase marijuana, don't assume that all dispensaries are the same. We've found the best dispensaries in Colorado -- whether you are a marijuana connoisseur or a casual smoker, you'll be delighted by these venerable vendors.

Rockies: High Country Healing

DENVER, Nov. 09, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MassRoots, Inc. (OTCQB:MSRT), one of the largest and fastest growing social networks for cannabis consumers, is pleased to announce it is one of the top 25 semi-finalists in theExtreme Tech Challenge out of more than 2,000 applicants. The Company is currently preparing its application for the finalist round. The top 10 finalists will present on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January and the top 3 finalists will be invited to pitch Sir Richard Branson in early February.

When it comes to legalizing marijuana, Colorado has been blazing a trail for other jurisdictions to follow since 2012.

But Tom Gordon, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) program, tells the Toronto Sun his federal government program has been studying the impact legalizing pot has had on the state and the results so far appear “pretty grim.”

(Read the RMHIDTA report here)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -

Medical marijuana users can now buy pot while filling up their gas tanks in Colorado Springs.

"Gas and Grass" is the first gas station to open in Colorado Springs that's adjacent to a Native Roots medical marijuana dispensary.

Colorado does not allow pot shops to sell non-marijuana products. So, the gas station and pot shop have distinct entrances. However, medical marijuana patients that shop at Native Roots will get discounts on the gasoline, similar to a grocery store loyalty program.

Patients who register their medical card with Native Roots will receive a free tank of gas, as well as discount card with substantial gas discounts for each subsequent visit, regardless of purchase- .15 per gallon

The number of conferences in the cannabis industry is almost on par with the ever-expanding music festival scene. With new conferences seemingly appearing on a weekly basis, deciding on the events worth the investment (money, time, bandwidth) can be difficult.

However, when a friend who works for the city and county of Denver’s Office of Marijuana Policy told me about a two-day symposium the city was holding for 420-situated regulators, I knew I had to attend.

The city of Denver's first Marijuana Management Symposium was deemed a success, and it could return in the future

Denver's inaugural foray into cannabis event programming this week was deemed such a success that "it's definitely a possibility that we'll do it again," said Dan Rowland, spokesman for the city's Office of Marijuana Policy.

PUEBLO, Colo. — Starting in 2017, high school graduates in one Colorado county will be able to turn to a college scholarship funded by marijuana tax.

On Tuesday, 60% of voters in Pueblo County approved a measure that will phase in an increase in taxes — 5% by 2020 — on marijuana growers  to fund college scholarships and other community projects.

The county is expected to raise $3.5 million with this tax increase, and at least half the revenue will go toward funding scholarships for high school graduates in Pueblo to attend local colleges. Depending on revenue, the program might be expanded in future years.