Webb Garrison wants to start his own cannabis business. He doesn't have any industry experience and he's only just building up his knowledge of the complicated regulations that govern the sector.

What he does have is a ready investor - his mum.

To get a better handle on the industry Webb and his mother Betty Garrison travelled for over an hour from their home on Long Island to the Cannabis World Congress in New York City.

They hoped visiting the booths and attending the conference's talks would highlight the industry's opportunities and hurdles - even if the products they hoped to sell were noticeably absent because of cannabis restrictions in New York.

Last week Microsoft announced a software partnership to help states track marijuana sales and MedMen launched its private equity Opportunity Fund

It may not be your cup of tea, but marijuana could become a potent alternative for certain high-net-worth investors looking for an industry with strong growth potential.

Last week Microsoft announced a software partnership to help state governments track marijuana sales, and, come Election Day, at least four states, including California, will host ballot initiatives to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Four states already have — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — and those states plus some 21 more have legalized cannabis use for medical purposes.

Walking into a cannabis show in New York City is a perfect metaphor for how mainstream America approaches weed culture right now. The Cannabis World Congress expo floor at the Javits Center was overloaded with booths sporting flea market-style displays of edibles, extracts, and oils, plenty of shiny new tech, and piles of giveaway swag in different shades of green. There were also businesses hocking every kind of service imaginable, trying to capitalize on our buzziest new billion dollar industry. Cannabis consultants, lawyers, security companies, weed universities — pick a profession and tint it leaf-green.

Cannabis is a serious business. 

Currently, medical marijuana is legal in 25 states, with several more considering bills. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, estimates that it's a $45 billion industry in the US alone. 

This year, the International Cannabis Association hosted the second-annual Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition in New York City, where cannabis businesses from around the world can network, show off their products, and attend seminars and panel discussions about the burgeoning industry.

On Wednesday, the New York State Assembly voted in support of A10092, a bill that will seal the criminal records of people who have been unjustly and unconstitutionally arrested for simple possession of marijuana in public view. The bipartisan vote was 99 in favor and 42 opposed. Over the last 20 years, over 700,000 New Yorkers have been arrested for simple possession of marijuana. Those convicted face significant barriers to accessing education, employment, housing opportunities, and other state services.

Marijuana is becoming big business. As more states legalize it for medical and even recreational use, companies are looking to cash in. Hundreds of those companies displayed their wares at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.

Vacuum sealers, oils, sprays, pills, drops, lights, edibles, vaping devices, and all their suit-wearing purveyors filled a floor of the Javits Center to showcase the hundreds of tributary businesses now feeding into and out from the cannabis industry.

Eugene Monroe’s public stance on the use of medical marijuana in the NFL won’t deter the Giants from signing the free agent offensive tackle.

At least, that was the message coming from coach Ben McAdoo and his players after the final practice of the team’s three-day minicamp on Thursday.

Released by the Ravens on Wednesday, the talented, 29-year-old offensive tackle has been linked to the Giants, who failed this offseason to fill their void at right tackle currently inhabited by Marshall Newhouse. They tried to trade for Monroe prior to the move, an NFL source said, and are interested in signing him.

As state after state has legalized marijuana in one way or another, big names in corporate America have stayed away entirely. Marijuana, after all, is still illegal, according to the federal government.

But Microsoft is breaking the corporate taboo on pot this week by announcing a partnership to begin offering software that tracks marijuana plants from “seed to sale,” as the pot industry puts it.

Paths toward medical marijuana: Legislative action versus voter initiative

Of 25 states that have legalized medical marijuana in the United States, 14 of them have done so by legislative action and 11 have done so by voter-led ballot initiative.

In a new analysis of state medical cannabis program data, New Frontier, a leading cannabis industry data and analysis company, finds states that legalized through the legislative process have more restrictive medical cannabis programs than states that legalized through voter-led ballot initiatives.

Since the 1970s, a weed decriminalization shift has swept the nation, and New York was one of the first states to jump on board with the passing of the Marijuana Reform Act in 1977. Still, New York’s marijuana-related arrest rate became the highest in the country—more than double the national average in 2013 with over 535 arrests per 100,000 people.