Jake Heimark never really smoked pot.

Even now, as Heimark launches the second product from his marijuana edibles company, Plus, he indulges only when testing his own product— a kind of medicated gum.

Despite his lack of firsthand experience, he is well prepared to enter the budding marijuana marketplace. A two-year stint on Facebook's risk management team taught Heimark how to build a great product and how to cultivate a company culture that values "moving fast" (though maybe not "breaking things," as the social giant's mantra goes).

By most accounts, the marijuana industry is growing like a weed.Since California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis in 1996, two dozen additional states have also legalized medical pot, and four states -- Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska -- along with Washington, D.C., have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana.

This is pretty exceptional considering that public support for the nationwide legalization of marijuana stood at just 36% in 2005. Today, according to Gallup's most recent poll, 60% of Americans approve of the idea of fully legalizing marijuana.

As legal marijuana becomes more popular in the US and abroad, people are coming up with creative ways to capitalize on the trend.

Here's a look at some very interesting ventures in the cannabis world.

420 Flowers

Forget 1-800-Flowers.Com Inc (NASDAQ: FLWS), it's Buds & Blossoms’ time now. This Denver-based florist that specializes in pot-infused weddings takes buds "Straight from your bouquet to your bowl.” Owner Bec Koop was featured on CNBC’s Strange Success segment earlier this week.

Study finds it boosts activity in cells that transmit light information from the eyes to brain.

Over the last few decades, researchers have noted numerous reports of fishermen and mountain dwellers in Jamaica and Morocco who appear to have improved night vision after ingesting cannabis.

Now, a new study has linked increased levels of cannabinoids, the active agent in marijuana, to enhanced low-light vision in vertebrates.

While previous studies have suggested cannabinoids reduce neurotransmission, researchers now found that activating this type of signalling in tadpoles instead made the retinal ganglion cells more sensitive.

Tokken is a mobile banking app designed to legitimize the way Coloradans pay for weed. Using a custom-built internal banking system based on “tokens,” instead of cash, the company hopes to grow the technology and, eventually, disrupt the global banking system.

For users, Tokken acts as a digital wallet, enabling easy purchasing with on-file cards. But this wallet is different from other popular payment systems, like Venmo or Paypal.

Tokken’s technology converts hard currency to digital tokens, which are used as an accounting tool, linked to U.S. currency.

Dispensaries can choose to leave the money in token form, convert tokens to cash or use them to make other payments.

FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTCmarkets: BITCF), a leading bitcoin and cryptocurrency developer, specializing in both blockchain and online merchant payment solutions for medical marijuana dispensaries and other high-risk merchant accounts and services, today announced the signing of a merchant account processing agent agreement with a credit card processor for the states of California and Oregon. Under the agreement, BITCF will provide a full suite of financial services for the medical marijuana industry: merchant processing and POS solutions through its alliance network, a fully compliant, user friendly solution to accept Credit and Debit Cards through traditional Merchant Card Processing networks.

The biotech sector differs from other sectors of the market in the sense that it is the only industry where earnings are not the most important event for companies.

Unlike other sectors, the biotech sector trades on FDA results, not earnings; and favorable results can serve as a major catalyst for the company and send the price of the company’s stock considerably higher.

Biotech Beneficiaries

The biotech sector will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the legal cannabis movement and there are only a few publicly traded biotech companies that are focused on developing treatments from the cannabis plan.

Colorado’s marijuana industry generated a whopping $2.39 billion last year, according to a new report from the research collaborative The Marijuana Policy Group.

If the numbers are right, Colorado’s still budding cannabis industry is already worth more than the much-celebrated craft beer industry, the report officially released Wednesday shows.

Last year, Colorado’s small and independent beer makers generated $1.7 billion, according to a report released earlier this year by the Colorado Brewers Guild.

In an ideal world, influential faces and figures wouldn’t have any influence whatsoever on pot legislation. The reason being that rather than a subject of propaganda, campaigning and persuasive tactics on both sides, the decisions would be made in accordance with facts. With evidence. With the truth. But this just isn’t the case at all – we refer you back to a prior article you may or may not have checked out by now, in which the anti-pot camp in Massachusetts made it clear that the truth was of no interest to them. If you haven’t watched the video, go do it now. That is, if you’ve got a strong stomach – it’s not easy to get through without barfing!