On March 16, 2016, Comprehensive Cannabis Consulting, a cannabis consultancy and author of Cannabis Benchmarks, announced that it predicts there will be a cannabis shortage in Colorado and Oregon due to noncompliant cannabis being removed from circulation for contamination and residual pesticides.

Because he’s a scientist, not a back-slapping venture capitalist, Mowgli Holmes loathes using the term networking to describe even the portion of his job that entails shaking hands in the cannabis industry. But it was networking that brought the chief scientific officer of Phylos Bioscience in Portland, Oregon, to Las Vegas in November 2014 to attend the Marijuana Business Conference and Expo—and to smoke a massive joint with one of the cannabis movement’s legends, Ohio lawyer Don Wirtshafter.

Watching marijuana become legalized in a select handful of states over the past few years has been interesting and exciting for a number of reasons.

For the week ended Friday, March 11, the spot price index for a pound of cannabis was essentially unchanged from $1,920 in the prior week to $1,918. The simple average price for a gram slipped a penny from $4.57 to $4.56.

The futures price for the near month (April) rose 1% from $2,010 to $2,030. For the month of May, the forward price remained flat at $2,110 a pound. The six-month forward price for September also remained unchanged at $2,200.

About two-thirds of the past week’s transactions occurred in a range of $1,564 to $2,577 per pound, according to the analysts at Cannabis Benchmarks. The analysts also commented on the forward price curve:

Starting your first cannabis garden can be overwhelming -- there are endless opinions on what equipment to use and which techniques yield the best results. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to grow great cannabis. With a little homework, a spirit for problem solving, and some memory of your high school science classes (don't worry, just some), you'll find that growing cannabis is one of the quickest and most impactful ways to deepen your understanding of this unique plant.

Leafly visited five different gardens to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the professionals are growing cannabis. We'll bring you to indoor facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington to study the steps successful growers use to produce some of the finest flowers in the country.

PORTLAND — The owner of the World Famous Cannabis Cafe announced she will close her doors next week after another warning by public health officials that the establishment violates indoor air rules.

The cafe will host its final Stoner Bingo session March 7, said Madeline Martinez, a longtime marijuana legalization advocate and owner of the business, which offers people 21 and older a place to socialize and use cannabis.

Can you smoke danger zone weed?

There are warnings about eating food grown in the danger zones in Portland near glass factories. I live near one. Can I smoke the weed I grew in my backyard last summer?
—Urban Farmer

Having nearly been purged in the Great Fluoride Pogrom of 2014 (aka Crestallnacht), I'm reluctant to wade too deeply into any new mineral-based civic controversies, but what the hell. #yolo

Federal cannabis prohibition is a buzzkill on many levels, but for cannabusinesses in legal states, it’s an especially frustrating hurdle to expansion. When a brand outgrows its home turf, it can’t just start shipping packages of product to the next state over. 

Despite the difficulty, a number of companies have managed to cross state lines. Colorado’s Dixie Elixirs has products in Washington, California, and Oregon. They recently launched in Nevada, and Chief Marketing Officer Joe Hodas says the brand is close to inking a deal in Arizona. 

The District recently marked the first anniversary of its legalization of recreational marijuana. And as the city is home to so many fitness-minded people, it’s likely that at least a few of them are wondering whether it makes sense, or whether it’s even safe, to incorporate pot into their exercise regimens.

Given the long-standing illegality of marijuana, there is not a large body of evidence about its effects on the human body. However, I spoke with a professional athlete who offered his own large body as testimony to the benefits of engaging in physical activity while stoned.

Oregon has collected taxes on marijuana sales since the start of February but officials don't expect to have an official tally until mid-March.

The Oregon Department of Revenue began collecting taxes from January sales on Feb. 1. Medical marijuana dispensaries had until Monday to send in their first month of tax payments.

Joy Krawczyk, an agency spokeswoman, said the agency is waiting for payments that were mailed in the final days of the month before releasing the final tally. 

Medical marijuana stores have been allowed to sell to anyone 21 and older since last October. Consumers enjoyed a tax holiday for the first three months; a 25 percent tax kicked in on Jan. 1.