Meet the top women in weed from the annual Womens Grow Conference. Women Grow, a for-profit organization, is known for bringing together powerhouse women in the cannabis industry from all over the country to make connections, and share vital industry knowledge.

Power Puff girls

A Wilmington business will soon launch a 360 degree platform educating and entertaining the cannabis community. It’s called Cannabis Virtual Reality Network or CVRN.

Founder Matt Dula spent five years in the Marine Corps. He was diagnosed with PTSD shortly after leaving. He said doctors wanted to treat the problem with prescription pill.

“I knew there was a better way,” Dula said. “There has to be a better process than be on prescription pills for the rest of my life at 25 years old.”

He turned to cannabis as an alternative treatment.

Cannabiz Consumer Group’s (C2G) research findings predict thatlegal marijuana will “canna-balize” 7.1% of revenues from the existing retail beer industry. Those purchases will take many forms, infused beverages among them. If cannabis were legalized nationally, the beer industry would lose more than $2 billion in retail sales, predicts C2G. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of beer drinkers state that they already have substituted cannabis for beer, or would substitute their beer retail purchases with cannabis in the future if legal. Other segments of the alcohol industry including wine and spirits and on-premise sales are also being impacted as are other CPG categories, brands, and retailers.

Central Florida’s first medical marijuana dispensary is slated to open in the next few weeks on North Orange Avenue at Ivanhoe Village, next to White Wolf Cafe.

With gleaming white floors highlighted by gold flecks, wood-slat walls, custom cabinetry and glass panels separating a waiting room from the products, the Knox Medical center is slated to open at 1901 North Orange Avenue. Owners see it as more than a place to distribute, with plans to convey a message.

“I think the community can embrace it and be proud of it,” said Bruce Knox, founder of Knox Medical. “We are just trying to build them as nice as we can to dispel the myth. We all want to have a very professional image and we don’t want anything seedy that could tarnish the state’s image.”

The U.S. cannabis market could generate $2.3 billion in state tax revenue from retail sales by the year 2020, according to New Frontier Data’s newly released annual report on the industry.

This figure was forecasted in the report – titled The Cannabis Industry Annual Report: 2017 Legal Marijuana Outlook – under the assumption that all currently legal states continue their projected growth.

“During this tough economy states are looking for any way to close their budget shortfalls and it appears that cannabis may hold an answer for them,” said New Frontier Data CEO Giadha Aguirre De Carcer in a statement.

The program offers veterans an alternative to addictive pharmaceutical drugs.

Although veterans only make up 7% of the U.S. population, they account for 20% of the national suicide rate. An estimated 22 veterans commit suicide every day. To help combat this appalling statistic, California-based Weed for Warriors Project has stepped up to help veterans switch from addictive pharmaceutical drugs to medical marijuana. The program provides veterans with information, a safe place to connect with fellow veterans, and safe access to free medical marijuana treatments.

The momentum behind legalizing the cannabis industry has never been greater.  With 28 states and Washington, DC having legalized cannabis for either medical and/or adult-use, we are finally in a position where market-based facts and governmental and scientific studies are proving the cannabis industry is both responsible and thriving. 

We are relearning that cannabis is a healthy alternative to opioid pain pill prescriptions and the concerns of some are based on mis-information that produced outdated and unjustified policy. In fact, the more people learn about cannabis the more they support the end of its prohibition. 

Colorado officials say it could be necessary to prevent a federal crackdown.

Colorado lawmakers are pushing to restrict the number of cannabis plants cultivated at home for personal use.

According to the Associated Press, a House committee approved a measure on Monday in a vote of 11-to-2 intended to inflict a 12 plant limit on home grows in residential areas.

Presently, Colorado law allows medical marijuana patients to cultivate as many as 99 plants, while giving the recreational sector the freedom to grow up to six plants on personal property.

• Marijuana is easier to access than ever, with more than 20% of Americans living in a state that has voted to legalize recreational use — and a majority living in states that have legalized medical use.
• But when you talk to researchers who study cannabis, they say there's still a lot we don't know about marijuana.
• There are a few big studies happening right now that should for the first time offer some answers to essential questions.

In many ways, it's the age of access to pot.

As of last November, more than 20% of Americans live in states that have voted to legalize recreational marijuana use. A majority live in states that allow access to medical marijuana.

The Los Angeles-based technology company LoudCloud launched its app this past January. It’s the answer to simplicity when it comes to owning or managing a cannabis collective.

After completing paperwork once and uploading information to LoudCloud, medical marijuana patients can purchase products from their retailer of choice and “avoid the 15-minute process associated with purchasing cannabis,” reveals the startup’s co-founder Robert “Rob” Gillett, who came up with the idea a year ago.