Is cannabis the next Internet? That's the bold claim made by Tokyo Smoke CEO Alan Gertner. 

The former head of an Asia-Pacific-wide sales team at Google saw his life change after a Ghanian tour guide told him, “You either work on something you love, or work because it supports the people you love.”

After hearing this, Gertner quit Google. His former philosophy - “Work hard, get promoted, make more money.” - left him unfulfilled.

On April 12, 2016, Economist Beau Whitney and cannabis industry consultant Sam Chapman announced the release of their new cannabis industry report, “Oregon Cannabis Jobs Report: Retail Sales and Job Creation in Oregon’s Burgeoning Cannabis Sector.”

From Dec. 9, 2015, until Jan. 16, 2016, the Oregon Cannabis Jobs Report surveyed state cannabis dispensaries registered with the Oregon Health Authority, with the data anonymized and collected confidentially.

Many of my firm’s cannabis clients are raising money right now. Out-of-state investors looking for a place to deploy capital are looking hard at Oregon (which recently abolished residency requirements to participate in its cannabis industry), and some are already starting to lay the groundwork for pending recreational legalization in Nevada and California. Even more established markets, like Washington and Colorado, are seeing an uptick in corporate entities trying to bring in new money.

Here's a snapshot of Oregon's marijuana market:

418: Registered medical marijuana dispensaries statewide

167: Dispensaries in Portland

3: Dispensaries facing state "enforcement action" for rule violations since recreational marijuana sales began in October

850: Recreational marijuana licenses that the state expects to issue this year across Oregon

1,200 to 2,000: Recreational marijuana license applications that the state expects to receive this year. The agency will issue six types of licenses: producer, wholesaler, processor, retailer, lab and researcher.

Candies, cookies and beverages infused with a low dose of cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, will not be available for recreational consumers for another month or two, the manager of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program said Monday. 

Low-dose edibles became legal for recreational buyers aged 21 and over at medical marijuana dispensaries when Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 1511 last week. However, the Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the medical marijuana program, must first draw up temporary rules for those sales. A key provision is the definition of a low dose. 

The agency is drafting rules now, said André Ourso, manager of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, but they may not be ready until early summer. 

Oregon public health officials are moving ahead with rules that would cap THC in marijuana edibles at half of Washington and Colorado limits, saying such a restriction is key to protecting novice consumers and children.

A rules advisory committee of the Oregon Health Authority met for the last time Thursday to discuss the proposed rules, which call for limits of 5 milligrams of THC in a single serving of an edible, such as a cookie or chocolate. A package of marijuana-infused edibles may contain no more than 50 milligrams.

For edibles sold on the medical marijuana market, the state has proposed higher limits -- 100 milligrams of THC -- a cap many advocates and patients say is too conservative for experienced and regular cannabis consumers.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday signed legislation that allows dispensaries to sell marijuana-infused edibles and extracts to people 21 and older. The Oregon Health Authority must first draft rules for the new products before shops can begin selling them.

Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday signed a bill that allows anyone 21 and older to purchase marijuana extracts and pot-infused edibles from Oregon dispensaries.

The provision is part of Senate Bill 1511, which also allows recreational pot shops to sell tax-free medical marijuana to patients.

The Oregon Health Authority says the production of cannabis extract is now a class B felony.

An Oregon Health Authority announcement that unlicensed production of marijuana concentrates will be considered a felony has effectively shut down Oregon's extraction industry for more than two weeks.

At a March 15 forum hosted by the Oregon Cannabis Association at Refuge PDX, marijuana business owners were surprised to learn that, under a law that went into effect March 3, unlicensed production of cannabis extracts—potent oils used to make concentrates and edibles— is considered a class B state felony.

The cannabis industry made $5.4 billion in 2015. Legally. That's $5.4 billion worth of businesses growing and cultivating plants, processing and shipping products, and selling marijuana, cannabis oil, and all manner of edibles at dispensaries. That figure is forecast to hit $22.8 billion by 2020 according to the latest State of Legal Marijuana Markets Report from ArcView Market Research and cannabis-focused data analysis firm, New Frontier.

To make a truly informed cannabis-buying decision, you have to smell the product. And I don't mean taking a dainty whiff. You've got get in there and really inhale, because smelling it — really focusing on the fragrance — may just be the best way to choose your cannabis.

“Depending on what the scent is, it can make or break a strain for people,” said Tyson Dieter, a manager at the Southwest Portland outlet of Nectar, an Oregon cannabis retailer.