ArcView Market Research released their annual cannabis market summary, and the numbers are staggering for the legal marijuana industry. In their 4th edition of The State of Legal Marijuana Markets they report that an amazing 30% growth rate occurred in the industry, which makes it the fastest growing industry in the country by far. The pace is even greater than the dot-com era, which grew at only a 22% rate.

Orange County is telling its employees: forget Florida’s new medical marijuana law. If we find out you’ve used any kind of marijuana, you’re fired.

The county sent a memo to its workers stating "the use of marijuana in any form continues to be prohibited by federal law and county policy." County officials said it all boils down to money.

The county gets financial incentives from the state for earning the title "drug-free" workplace. If they allow workers to use medical marijuana that money goes away. County workers we spoke with say they're resigned to the reality.

“It's the policy of the county,” says county employee Ron Branch, “if you want to work here, you've got to comply with the policies. That's the way I feel about it.”

Dr. Barry Gordon is prepared for a very busy week at his practice. On Tuesday, his doors will open for patients who want to qualify for medical marijuana.

After working as an ER doctor in Ohio for 32 years, Gordon retired to Venice.  He opened Physicians Advanced Laser Center, removing tattoos and operating as a telemedicine doctor.

When he saw the push for medical marijuana in Florida, he believed he could help.

"I felt that this was my one last big battle that I could do," he said.   "One of the reasons why I feel so comfortable undertaking this new career is I've really seen drug abuse from all the different angles and that's not what cannabis is about."

Dr. Joseph Dorn has had a unique vantage point when it comes to the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in Florida.

Dorn was the medical director of Surterra Therapeutics, which is one of the six dispensing organizations licensed to grow and distribute medical cannabis in the state. He resigned from that position two months ago and has opened a medical marijuana treatment center as Amendment 2 takes effect on Tuesday.

The constitutional amendment, which was approved by 71 percent of Florida voters, allows higher-strength marijuana to be used for a wider list of medical ailments. However, the true measure of what the amendment means won’t be immediately seen until a new set of rules are adopted and implemented by the Florida Legislature and the Department of Health.

When Jackson County, Oregon, tried to ban medical cannabis cultivation on some rural land last April, farmers there adopted an unexpected defense: They threatened to sue for lost income. According to state law, local governments can’t stop rural landowners from engaging in agricultural activity without compensating them for the lost value of the banned enterprise.

These property rights laws are commonly invoked by developers, mining companies and other big businesses to get around burdensome regulations. But Portland attorney Ross Day, who is representing more than a dozen Jackson County farmers, says the law is tailor-made for cannabis. 

With the state's pot industry poised to explode, Florida health officials have agreed to issue another medical marijuana license --the state's seventh-- to a Central Florida nursery that lost out to a competitor by a fraction of a percentage point last fall.

The Department of Health inked the agreement with McCrory's Sunny Hill Nursery last week--after nearly a year of protracted and expensive litigation over the license--before Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth McArthur could issue a ruling and as health officials tried to work out a deal over another license in a separate challenge.

A Senate panel Tuesday began exploring issues surrounding medical marijuana as lawmakers prepare to carry out a constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by voters in November.

The Senate Health Policy Committee heard from a cannabis vendor, patient advocates, doctors and opponents of Amendment 2, which legalized medical marijuana for a broad swath of patients and set Florida in position to become one of the largest pot markets in the nation.

"The voters have spoken. It is our duty as their elected representatives to implement this amendment appropriately," committee Chairwoman Dana Young, R-Tampa, said at the onset of the two-hour meeting.

The Internet was abuzz last week over Dr. Daniel Amen’s new studysuggesting cannabis use increases Alzheimer’s risk. The media quickly took the bait.

Proponents of scientific research in the cannabis industry got encouraging news with recent announcements that two major universities received nearly $20 million in donations for marijuana-related studies.

The University of Miami’s Project to Cure Paralysis and Miller School of Medicine received a $16 million grant from Scythian Bioscience in October to research whether a CBD-based pill can help reduce brain cell inflammation that occurs after injuries such as concussions, the Miami Herald reported.

Scythian BioSciences is a private research and development company based in Canada that focuses on the prevention and treatment of concussions and traumatic brain injury.

Florida's Health Department approved Knox Medical to be the fourth organization in the state to distribute low-THC medical cannabis.  The announcement came less than a month before the full legalization of medical marijuana in the state becomes effective. 

Knox Medical Will Do In-Home Delivery Of Medical Marijuana

Knox Medical scored the highest out of all the nurseries that applied for permission to cultivate, process and dispense medical cannabis.  As a result, they were approved to dispense medical pot, and is set to begin in-home deliveries next week.