With the legal cannabis industry generating $6.9 billion in sales in 2016, up 34% from 2015, it’s a no-brainer to say that much is at stake as the business inevitably grows. Much like the independent movie biz, the cannabis industry attracts investors looking for high-risk, high-reward investments, and as marijuana goes more mainstream, so does the funding mechanisms for the industry’s businesses. Just recently, numerous investment firms have cropped up, announcing themselves as major entities in the billion-dollar industry.

It appears President Donald Trump is about to make another staunch marijuana opponent a member of his staff.

Reports indicate that Pennsylvania Representative Tom Marino, who has served three terms in Congress, is on the verge of stepping down from his role as a one of the nation’s legislative forces to become the leader of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

People who habitually cap off their night with a bowl of cannabis are probably missing out on something closely related to the psychoactive effects of the plant: dreams. Not a lot of people talk about how their dreams take a backseat after a nightly toke – most individuals just shrug off the harmless phenomenon without giving it much thought. Like all things in life, including sleep paralysis, there’s a legit explanation as to why you’re either struggling to remember your dreams or why you could not be dreaming at all during this period.

Did you know? In addition to providing valuable medicinal and stress-relieving benefits when ingested and smoked, the marijuana plant can be used for everything from making clothing and fireproof construction materials to paper, biofuel, and plastic that decomposes in a timely manner.

For three decades, America got tough on crime.

Police used aggressive tactics and arrest rates soared. Small-time drug cases clogged the courts. Vigorous gun prosecutions sent young men away from their communities and to faraway prisons for long terms.

But as crime rates dropped since 2000, enforcement policies changed. Even conservative lawmakers sought to reduce mandatory minimum sentences and to lower prison populations, and law enforcement shifted to new models that emphasized community partnerships over mass arrests.

A foreign investor is expressing concern that Jamaica’s delay in establishing a medical ganja industry is providing other countries with the advantage to maximise from the opportunities to cement themselves in the export trade.

Florida-based investor Mark Santiago, who has applied to the Cannabis Licensing Authority for a licence to operate a vertically integrated ganja business, feels that the disunity in communication is a major hold-up in the industry.

“I believe that the foot dragging is because of our lack of communication,” Santiago argued.

He was speaking to the Jamaica Observer at the MoBay Invest Conference put on by the Montego Bay Chamber of Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Friday.

Add marijuana to the list of items San Jose residents can order and have delivered to their door without ever leaving their couch, starting this week.

San Francisco startup Eaze launched its on-demand medical marijuana service in San Jose on Tuesday after the city removed its ban on cannabis delivery. The app, which lets customers order everything from pre-rolled joints to cannabis-infused mints, now serves the entire Bay Area.

“We’re excited that it finally came to fruition,” CEO Jim Patterson said.

Pennsylvania released draft regulations Tuesday for doctors who wish to prescribe medical marijuana as the permitting process for growers and dispensaries continues.

Doctors have until -- perhaps appropriately enough -- Apr. 20 to submit comments on the new temporary rules governing how the medicine can be obtained.

"The process for a patient to obtain medical marijuana will begin with the physician, so it's vital to ensure that our regulatory process for those physicians is open and transparent," Health Secretary Karen Murphy said, in a written statement.

Recreational marijuana is becoming legal, popular and accessible. However, medical marijuana still has a negative reputation across the nation.

Although medical marijuana has proven to be helpful in some cases, there isn’t a ton of research and statistics to show its effectiveness. There is no funding and too many rules surrounding the studying and testing of the effects of medical marijuana.

How are people supposed to be accustomed to something if they have no idea why they should accept it? We need to inform our nation if we ever expect them to be open minded. Without information, there is no changing minds.

After voters authorized recreational marijuana in November, Nevada lawmakers are discussing a raft of legislation to fill in the details of the new environment.

Here are some key themes running through 23 marijuana-related bills this session, and how they overlap with one another: