The Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards (FOCUS) is working to create order among the chaos caused by a cannabis regulatory contradiction. FOCUS, which is an independent, third-party, not-for-profit organization, is in the process of developing cannabis-specific standards for everything from cultivation and extraction to packaging and retail.

FOCUS Founder and Executive Chair Lezli Engelking says the overall goal is to help growers implement these standards, which were developed by industry professionals who reached a complete consensus on each approved product and reflect what is safe to use on other agricultural and plant products, by providing guidance.

Starting on August 31, everything changes for medical cannabis caregivers in Montana. A Helena, Montana judge recently rejected an advocacy group’s request to delay enforcement of restrictions on Montana’s medical cannabis industry. After August 31, medical cannabis providers will be barred from selling cannabis to more than three patients. The state Supreme Court earlier this year upheld that provision of a 2011 state law passed after the Montana Cannabis Industry Association sued to block it.

Use these insider tips to get in on the Green Rush.

Jeff Staker knows the new battle that lies ahead.

The Indiana Marine veteran has registered a nonprofit with the state, Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis, and said he is committed to pushing Indiana lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana.

“There needs to be an alternative,” Staker said.

It’s in part his first-hand account of prescribing practices, with doctors in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Staker said that is promoting the new action.

“For me personally, it’s because for the past 10 years I’ve been on pain medication of one sort or another,” he said. “And a majority of that I was on oxycodone.”

Oregon medical marijuana dispensaries have sold an estimated $102 million in recreational cannabis since January, when the state imposed a 25 percent sales tax on pot.

The state has collected about $25.5 million in marijuana taxes in the first six months of the year and is on track to meet state economists' projections.

The latest tax figures, released Monday by the Oregon Department of Revenue, include the start of marijuana-infused edibles sales. The products include a wide variety of snacks, sweets and drinks and were available to anyone 21 and older starting in June.

The popularity of edibles was hard to project because it's difficult to measure the black market for them, said Mazen Malik, a senior state economist with the Office of Legislative Revenue. 

NATE Diaz could be in trouble with USADA for potentially breaching a UFC anti-doping policy by vaping cannabis at the post-fight press conference in Las Vegas.

Diaz, who had just lost a majority decision to McGregor over five brutal rounds at UFC 202, was vaping on the rostrum and, when asked, said it was CBD or cannabidiol oil.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon on April 26, Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez, the 44-year-old owner of a hydroponics gardening store in Miami, Florida, received a call from a customer who had recently moved to Tennessee.

Luis Rego, a 32-year-old alleged pot farmer, was having trouble with his current crop and wanted some advice. Unbeknownst to both men, special agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) were eavesdropping on their conversation as part of an investigation into a ring they believed had set up an illegal grow house network in eight Tennessee counties. According to an excerpt from transcripts of the phone call, Rego said of his crop, "Man, this does not want to even out... In the morning, it's fine, and in the afternoon, it gets sad."

The state's medical cannabis commission plans to reveal its rankings of prospective growers and processors this week, as complaints mount about the lack of diversity among the winning companies.

Dr. Paul Davies, chairman of the medical cannabis commission, said the selections were made without commissioners knowing the identity or background of the applicants. He said he's "very happy" that some of the winning companies are run by women or racial minorities.

Racial diversity was was not a factor in deciding which applicants were awarded licenses to grow and process the drug this month.

John Oliver had a strong message for Donald Trump during his HBO show Sunday night: "drop out" of the race.

On his "Last Week Tonight", Oliver said Trump had come to a "fork in the road" with the resignation of his campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and that he believed the Republican nominee only had two options. One, either continue with his campaign and potentially lose -- and, he said, a loss would be "disastrous" for Trump's brand or simply end it now. 

From APIs to dispensary robots, new innovations are popping up like weeds.

The cannabis industry is growing up, and it would be tough to imagine more convincing proof than Microsoft's recent announcement that it's getting involved.

Though the software giant will stay very much in the background -- its role will focus primarily on providing Azure cloud services for a compliance-focused software push -- the move is still widely viewed as a telling sign.