Marijuana dispensaries in Oregon sold more than $160 million worth of recreational marijuana products in the first nine months of the year, sales tax figures released Monday by the state Department of Revenue show.

The agency received $40.2 million in recreational marijuana sales tax payments from dispensaries between the start of January and the end of September, suggesting that about $160.8 million worth of recreational pot products were sold in Oregon. State-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries selling recreational marijuana charge a 25 percent sales tax to customers for all flower, edible and other marijuana items.

Business owners are replacing idealists in the pot-legalization movement as the nascent marijuana industry creates a broad base of new donors, many of them entrepreneurs willing to spend to change drug policy.

Unlike in the past, these supporters are not limited to a few wealthy people seeking change for personal reasons. They constitute a bigger coalition of business interests. And their support provides a significant financial advantage for pro-legalization campaigns.

“It’s mainly a social-justice movement. But undoubtedly there are business interests at work, which is new in this movement,” said Kayvan Khalatbari, a one-time pot-shop owner and now head of a Denver marijuana consulting firm.

Following months of negotiations and various offers, Germany-based Bayer has finally sealed the deal with Monsanto, purchasing the seed giant for $66 billion. The merger is reported to be the largest all-cash deal on record.

The purchase means a lot of things, and none of them good for consumers. For one, it strengthens the monopolization of the world’s food supply. It also means more genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and chemicals to be doused on them.

Now, some are predicting the merge could also mean the takeover of the marijuana industry. Monsanto has an intimate business relationship with Scotts Miracle-Gro, “a convicted corporate criminal– and Scott’s Miracle-Gro is trying to take over the marijuana industry,” according to Big Buds Mag.

Ever since recreational cannabis was legalized in Colorado, Washington and Alaska, there’s been heated debated as to the way in which cannabis edibles are manufactured, packaged, marketed and sold. As far as some are concerned, plain packaging with nothing eye-catching whatsoever is the best way to avoid tempting tots. For others, it’s a case of following the same rules as alcohol – package and market them as lavishly as you like, just be sure to stay away from anything that might appeal to younger crowds.

Cannabis gummy firm Americanna is taking advantage of the soaring infused gummy market and is set to dominate the edibles space in the future. 

BDS is a market research firm for the cannabis industry that tracks adult-use sales in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon, which represent about 50% of the national market.

Last year, gummy candies only made up 13% of the total edibles sales compared to the 26% owned by chocolate bars, according to BDS data.

“2016 is looking like a great year for edibles,” the market research firm said.

Cannabis gummies are not functional gummies

It’s a hot, sunny Thursday afternoon on the hard edge of Queen Street West, and the foot traffic at Eden, a pot dispensary, is brisk.

Retailers along this strip of trendy clothing stores, bars, restaurants, shoe shops, tattoo parlours, hairstylists, comic stores and coffee joints cater to the urban hip, and Eden is no different. lnside, iceberg-blue lights illuminate jewel-case cabinets with the product — glass vials of Hindu Kush, El Hefe, Organic Blue Dream — artfully displayed. 

On the aquamarine-blue wall at the front are two white iPads, for customers who need quick access to the Internet to check product information.

The place is spotless, sharp. And the air is heavy with the unmistakeable sweet smell of cannabis.

It’s in the billions.

Legalizing recreational marijuana could be a smart financial move for California.

A new study from the University of the Pacific in Stockton suggests legalizing recreational marijuana in California would create jobs and generate billions of dollars worth of business. The study was commissioned by Truth Enterprises, which is an investment fund focused on the legal cannabis industry.

California's state capital region could reap 20,000 jobs and generate $4.2 billion in business if it becomes a hub for a legalized marijuana industry, a study released on Monday showed, weeks before voters decide whether to allow recreational use of the drug.

The report from the University of the Pacific in Stockton was commissioned by the cannabis investment company Truth Enterprises, one of hundreds of businesses counting on voters to legalize pot next month.

Minutes after a group of New Jersey lawmakers entered the stark industrial Medicine Man marijuana cultivation center, an employee in blue scrubs rushed between them, pushing a plastic cart filled with pots containing a dozen leafy, two-foot-tall cannabis plants.

There was a scramble by the legislators and their aides to clear a path, and then chuckles and "wow"s.

"Oh, my God, It's like a celebrity just came through," Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R., Monmouth) quipped - referring to the pot, not the worker.

A new survey conducted by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC helps explain why Big Pharma is so afraid of cannabis.

The pharmaceutical and alcohol industries, both powerful influences in Washington, have long lobbied against cannabis legalization in order to protect their profits.

However, the tide has turned as decriminalization of medical and recreational cannabis sweeps the nation and the continent. With legalization, more and more people are discovering how this plant can provide a safe alternative to the dangerous effects of prescription pills.