It was mid-2015, and the Orthodox Union was in a quandary. New York State was in the process of launching its medical marijuana program, and the OU, one of the world’s largest and most respected kosher certification agencies, had been approached by more than one company eager to get its certification. But could the organization’s rabbis give their stamp of approval to a drug illegal in much of the world? 

Faces Human Capital Management, a leader in assisting the legal cannabis industry with its unique human resources issues, looks at some of the common blunders it sees in the rapidly-evolving marijuana sector.

DENVER (October 24, 2016) -- Employment demands for the legal cannabis industry have soared in recent years. According to the Marijuana Business Daily’s 2016 Marijuana Business Factbook, cannabis-related companies in the U.S. are now employing between 100,000 and 150,000 workers.

Johnny Carson, the beloved silver-haired late night talk show host and cultural icon, never made his relationship with cannabis public domain. Instead, he preferred to slip in subtle jabs about marijuana in relation to the stars he profiled rather than speak about his own feelings towards the wacky tobacky.

Although Carson loved to poke fun and make jokes about marijuana, the producers at NBC didn’t find it all that funny. He was warned to keep it under wraps, and he generally agreed, keeping his own political commentary to a minimum.

The predicted effects of legalizing marijuana are slowly, but surely, starting to reveal themselves. A recent study published by the Cato Institute set out to prove or disprove certain claims made by proponents on both sides of the debate over marijuana legalization.

“Dose of Reality: The Effects of State Marijuana” analyzed marijuana, alcohol and other drug usage, taxes and the economy, marijuana prices, crime, traffic accidents, public health and the affect on teens in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska using marijuana pre- and post-legalization data.

The November election will be a pivotal moment for the future of U.S. marijuana policy. Voters in five states, including California, will decide whether to legalize weed for recreational use by adults, and citizens in four others will cast ballots on whether to allow medical marijuana.

If all of the measures succeed, it could force federal lawmakers to reconcile restrictive federal drug laws with shifting public opinion. Marijuana is classified by the federal government as a Schedule I controlled substance, which puts it in the same category as heroin and LSD, yet the latest national polls show 57 percent of U.S. adults now think weed should be legal.   

If voters were unsure of where Hillary Clinton stood in regards to marijuana reform, the latest round of the Democratic presidential nominee’s emails released by WikiLeaks’ on Friday revealed what Clinton was planning to say about legalizing cannabis before her first debate.

From the sound of the preparatory document included in campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked emails, Clinton intends to follow in President Barack Obama’s footsteps and take a “hands off” approach to marijuana.

Following months of negotiations and various offers, Germany-based Bayer has finally sealed the deal with Monsanto, purchasing the seed giant for $66 billion. The merger is reported to be the largest all-cash deal on record.

The purchase means a lot of things, and none of them good for consumers. For one, it strengthens the monopolization of the world’s food supply. It also means more genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and chemicals to be doused on them.

Now, some are predicting the merge could also mean the takeover of the marijuana industry. Monsanto has an intimate business relationship with Scotts Miracle-Gro, “a convicted corporate criminal– and Scott’s Miracle-Gro is trying to take over the marijuana industry,” according to Big Buds Mag.

We live in a time of political acrimony, a moment when both candidates for president are loathed by large chunks of the public and our elections have come to feel like quadrennial skirmishes in a cultural civil war.

Meet the lobbyists who helped make pot respectable.

Every other Tuesday for the past several months, a group known as the “Cannabis Caucus” has gathered in the downtown offices of a leading lobbying firm to discuss, over takeout lunches, the latest political news around marijuana. Reporters aren’t allowed into the meetings, but participants acknowledge it is a testing ground for proposals on taxes, regulations, public health provisions and a slew of other details now surrounding the marijuana trade.