As David Chao walks into the glass conference room, there’s nothing unusual about him as an investor. He’s tall, middle-aged with dark hair and clutching the expected techie accessory: a smartphone.

But there’s one unusual detail about Chao: He’s a medical marijuana user.

Chao first gave cannabis a try a couple of years ago, after a cycle of painful stomach and lung problems he couldn’t relieve through traditional medicine. One day, as they sat around playing video games, pal Blake Krikorian, a co-founder of Sling Media who recently died of a heart attack, suggested Chao look into alternative treatments such as medical marijuana.

Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton roasted each other at the Al Smith charity dinner. Highlights in the video above.

As terrifying this presidential campaign season has been, I was somewhat conflicted when the third and final debate wrapped up on Wednesday night. Millions of Americans will be happy to never see these two together in the same room again, but some of us are going to miss the sparks that flew every time they met.

Not too long ago, if you wanted to ingest cannabis, you were going to either smoke it or eat it using some traditional method. Now, we’ve got vaporizers, tinctures, wax, and so on. Innovative marijuana companies are constantly coming up with new and interesting ways to medicate with the plant. One of the most interesting ways to ingest cannabis that I’ve ever seen has got to be the new “Vapen Clear” inhaler from the Arizona company Vapen. Up until now, Vapen has mostly sold tech products used for the delivery of cannabis. The Vapen Clear appears to be the first of its kind and is unlike anything we’ve seen.

North Dakota voters will decide next month whether to legalize marijuana for medical use by siding either with opponents who say science is on their side or with supporters like a desperate grandmother who illegally purchased the drug to help her cancer-stricken daughter.

Four states have ballot measures this year asking to join the list of 25 states that have comprehensive medical marijuana programs and 17 states that permit limited access to the drug. Minnesota recently approved a plan, while several states are considering legalizing the drug altogether.

If you’re on the fence about whether to vote yes or no on Proposition 205—the Nov. 8 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona—you’re not getting a lot of useful information through one-minute TV ads.

You’re probably not inclined to slog through the initiative’s 20 pages of legal jargon, either.

Fortunately, Will Humble has done that. He developed the regulations for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act as former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. At a recent Mini-Medical School lecture at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, Humble impartially broke down Prop. 205 into everyday language.

Edibles producer Spot is trying to keep first-time marijuana eaters from biting off more than they can chew.

"Well, you know the Maureen Dowd story," sighed Tim Moxey. "And it's just not a good story."

True, Dowd's experience was less than ideal: She ate a couple bites of a pot-infused candy bar, then curled into a ball in her Denver hotel room and had a panic attack. The next day she discovered the bar was supposed to have been broken into 16 pieces, not munched on bite by bite.

Yes, Washington was part of the vanguard when it came to legalizing marijuana. And yes, voters in even more states might approve legalization in November for recreational use.

But if you think drug tests have fallen out of fashion in Tacoma, Olympia and elsewhere in this state, think again.

Now that the economy has improved post-recession, companies are fishing from a smaller pool of job seekers who can pass mandatory drug screenings, said Hans Kueck, an economic development specialist with Pierce County.

Support for weed legalization in the US recently hit an all-time high, but looking at the industry, it's been a long time coming.

Sixty-percent of Americans — up from 35% in 2005 — now support legalization, according to a Gallup poll from Wednesday.

While there’s been an increase in awareness of the environmental impact of cannabis production over the last several years, aided by journalists and sources in law enforcement, one sector that hasn’t weighed in on this concern as much is academia, but not for a lack of interest.

The increasing polarization and divisiveness of American politics might prove helpful in Jesse Ventura’s ongoing battle to legalize marijuana south of the border, said the author, former professional wrestler and governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003.

"This could be the issue of revolution in the United States,” he told The West Block’s Tom Clark. “The people should rise up with this issue to send a message to Washington: we’re the boss, not you. We’re the employer, you’re the employee, and you’re there to do our bidding.”