A Florida-based firm is opening three new offices in cities where cannabis is an emerging industry, and it has plans to open more.

Another sign of how the legal cannabis industry is growing and maturing: the arrival of established law firms, looking to represent those involved in what was once an outlaw enterprise.

The cannabis industry may be disproportionately male, but pioneering women across the globe are thinking outside the box to return cannabis to the mainstream of medicine and society. In Colombia, Dr. Paola Pineda Villegas, a surgeon with a master’s degree in the study of HIV and a specialist in medical and sanitary law, is just such a leader. 

Pineda, 37, has been the most cited expert on medical cannabis in Colombia in recent years, as interest in the plant’s medicinal use has grown. She’s been hailed by the press as "the cannabis doctor” and has treated more than a thousand patients. 

The world has had a long and complicated relationship with hemp.

It wasn’t until the twentieth century that hemp fell out of favor as one of the most important crops in the history of mankind. In 2016, however, anything is possible it seems.

So, it could be very soon where a variety of applications using hemp become economical, and hemp grows into a boon for society.

What was once a widespread plant became a taboo within decades. Its history shows it is useful for tens of thousands of applications and counting. 

A task force studying energy and water use associated with marijuana production is likely to recommend that the state do more to educate growers about existing agricultural rules and practices, as well as back a certification process that encourages Oregon's new industry to pay closer attention how it uses natural resources.

The task force, made up of growers, agency representatives and lawmakers, is set to make recommendations to the Legislature later this summer.

Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake Oswego, suggested Wednesday that the panel won't propose "top down" requirements but instead will offer recommendations on the "light touch" end of the spectrum.

On a warm, cloudless Memorial Day, Mike Emers surveyed his domain at Rosie Creek Farm. Emers has owned the family farm for 16 years, a spacious plot cut from the Interior Alaska wilderness. It was the last day the farm would exist in its current iteration. After that, its transformation to a cannabis growing facility would begin.

The next day, an 8-foot fence went up around the perimeter, satisfying part of the state's security requirements for the new legal marijuana industry.

Perhaps as important for Emers, the fence will keep moose out of the potentially lucrative cannabis crop.

There's a reason why people are still buying weed from their drug dealer and not their local dispensary.

Denver holds the distinction of being one of a handful of cities to offer legal marijuana at a price point that rivals that of black market merchants.

Spokane, Washington, Aurora, Colorado, and Mesa, Arizona join the mile high city as the destination for legal cannabis that is cheaper than the more traditional friend-to-friend transactions that the majority of us are use to.

That’s according to analysis by Perfect Price, a company that offers price optimization software revealed. The San-Francisco based company analyzed data from six states and 66 large cities that allow the legal sale of marijuana. 

Terminally ill patients will soon have to cut through less red tape to get permission from the federal government to use experimental medications, including cannabis, in some states, to ease the suffering in the final days of their life.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced a new compassionate use policy intended to make it easier for physicians to submit the necessary paperwork to gain access to experimental drugs for patients inflicted with serious or immediately life-threatening conditions for which there are no other treatments available.

Lawmakers urge the Department of Justice to issue clarification surrounding marijuana advertising in legal states.

Now that marijuana is legal in some fashion or decriminalized in more than half of the United States, advertising has become even more of a hot button issue. 

Legal cannabis businesses looking to advertise have a tricky tightrope to balance as Schedule I restrictions imposed by the federal government mean business owners can’t write off marketing expenses.

For decades, cannabis cultivators, dispensaries and patients have faced raids and incarceration for growing, distributing and consuming cannabis.

The constant fear of police, property loss and expensive legal defense costs has created generations of cultivators who invested the bare minimum into materials and infrastructure. Cheap equipment, unlicensed contractors and lack of code-enforcement guidelines created ideal conditions for fire hazards and excessive waste.

What's it like to do HR for the cannabis industry? We spoke to several women in the field to find out.

What could prompt an ultra-vanilla, Dallas-adjacent suburban soccer mom to leave a cushy corporate job—complete with a six-figure salary—to branch out on her own in the fairly saturated world of human resources?

Weed.

When state legislation liberalizing medical cannabis use passed in 2015—starting next year, Texas residents with intractable epilepsy will be able to access low-THC/high-CBD oil—Lori Strubbe knew it was time to make a move.