Many marijuana businesses are running solely on cash operated businesses, having to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash money for protection, utilities and employee payouts. This is causing a safety concern for those that partake in the marijuana industry forcing them to carry high amounts of cash at all times quickly becoming targets for criminals.

Banks are wary of dealing with cannabusinesses because of the fear of being prosecuted for conspiring money laundering under federal law. Many banks have been refusing businesses due to this issue. The banking problem is even spilling over in to state politics regarding marijuana laws.

In the blink of an eye, global debates about cannabis regulation have shifted from “whether” to “how.” In 2014, Uruguay became the first nation to explicitly regulate cannabis from seed to sale. Its preferred strategy? State-regulated production, cannabis clubs, and personal growing. Meanwhile, four U.S. states and the District of Columbia have moved ahead with legal regulation, Colorado and Washington being the first, and the federal government seems unlikely to intervene. More states, possibly even California, look set to follow. Likewise, in the rest of the world, there are a number of gray-area regulatory systems, including in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. All offer insights into how the United States—and other countries—might tackle the “how.”

THE AMERICAN MODEL

A Louisiana lawmaker wants voters to decide whether the personal use of marijuana should be legal in their state, and he thinks their collective response could be a resounding yes. Rep. Dalton Honore, a Democrat representing Baton Rouge, filed a bill in the House last week that would legalize recreational pot use in Louisiana for adults 21 or older, according to KATC TV-3. It would also set up a system for cannabis to be grown, dispensed and taxed. The measure would go on the ballot next year.

"If I can get it to the people, it will pass with flying colors,” Honore told the Times-Picayune. 

ST. PAUL — Law enforcement officials from Duluth and across Minnesota on Wednesday issued a warning about an increasingly popular form of marijuana that can be six times more potent than the traditional form of the drug. Called marijuana wax, the manufacture of the drug has been blamed for the death of a St. Cloud woman. Marijuana wax also is blamed for recent overdose cases involving two Duluth teenagers.

Wax is a street name for this type of marijuana concentrate, and is also known as butane hash oil, honey oil, budder, dabs and 710. It has a similar consistency as butter or honey.

The wax itself is dangerous, officials say, but the manufacture of the product presents a grave safety risk to the public.

AUSTIN -- Medical marijuana advocates are stepping up the pressure on lawmakers this week.

The 84th Texas Legislature has seen an unprecedented number of marijuana-related bills, leading advocates for medical marijuana to draw distinctions between bills that would support medicinal use versus those that would affect recreational use. For that purpose, dozens of patients and medical marijuana advocates gathered at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday to highlight their cause.

Advocates for medical marijuana are quick to point out that 23 states have passed some sort of therapeutic cannabis law. All of them are different. They range from the broadly worded (California) to severely restrictive (New Jersey). The truth is that only a handful of these states actually offer programs that serve a majority of patients. 

Robust programs are running in Maine, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and California. These states offer the widest array of access from home cultivation, collective gardens and professional dispensaries. The rest of the country struggles to compete for a similar level of compassion. 

A marijuana plant, photographed during a bust by Fort Thomas Police in Kentucky on Tuesday, October 10, 2006.(Photo: File photo)

Two scions of the city's storied Taft family have invested in the Butler County property that would serve as one of the 10 marijuana-producing farms should voters legalize marijuana in November.

Brothers Woody Taft, a private equity investor, and Dudley Taft Jr., a noted local musician, expressed support Wednesday for the ResponsibleOhio ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment. The language would allow adults over 21 to use marijuana and children, with parental consent, to get medical cannabis to treat illness.

Raleigh, N.C. — Joseph Malinowski told the House Judiciary I Committee on Wednesday that he doesn't want to be a lawbreaker, but neither does he want to suffer with the aftermath of cancer or the symptoms of multiple sclerosis when medical marijuana can ease the pain.

"I spent 21 days in Harnett County jail, first time in my life I've ever been in any kind of trouble," Malinowski said. "But this helps me. I think it could help a lot more people."

Despite pleas from a number of people who testified that medical cannabis has helped treat either themselves or loved ones, the committee rejected legislation that would have legalized marijuana use for certain patients.

Anne Glazer, a partner at the Stoel Rives law firm, cautions marijuana sellers to skip calling their products "organic".

Not long after Oregon voted to legalize recreational marijuana use in November, attorney Anne Glazer began noticing producers touting their wares as “organic”.

Glazer, who specializes in helping food and beverage clients of the Stoel Rives law firm stay compliant with food and drug labeling laws, was troubled.

“It’s being used a lot,” she said, citing both packaging and advertising.

But it’s a no-go for the industry as it works to operate legally within Oregon.

Telluride, Colorado, a former silver-mining town in the San Juan Mountains, is known these days for its ski resort and film and music festivals, though not as a high-tech incubator. Still, it's where a couple of techie entrepreneurs were living and working in 2009 when a controversial state law presented them with a unique business opportunity.