Mention marijuana advertising to anyone who was alive in the 1970s, and you might draw out of them a famous Cheech and Chong jingle.

“No stems, no seeds that you don’t need,” goes the ditty, “Acapulco Gold is” — cue sound of someone toking on a joint — “badass weed!”

It was a joke at the time, but cannabis cultivators and dispensary owners across California are in a rush to polish their brands and come up with a campaign as effective as that one. Who, after all, hasn’t heard of Acapulco Gold?

Medical marijuana may be a billion-dollar industry in California, but it’s a cash business.

Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, most pot shops can’t get bank accounts or accept credit card transactions because the financial services companies fear they would be penalized or shut down by federal regulators for handling money gained from unlawful drug sales. That means marijuana products are typically sold for cash, and dispensary owners pay their employees, their landlords and others in cash as well. It’s not unusual for pot shop owners to haul bags of money — tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars — to the state tax collector’s office.

This October, local growers of marijuana will be harvesting this year’s first legal crops. This marks a historic moment for those involved in the marijuana legalization movement. However, due to the stigma associated with cannabis, little is actually known about this plant.

Like all plants, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to grow it. All one needs is water, light, soil and, of course, the seeds. Beyond that, it a relatively simple process. Autoflowering cannabis plants are more simple than the strains that need to be life-cycled. Mike Emers of Rosie Creek Farm in Fairbanks farms autoflowering cannabis plants for a local grower.

A fully developed legal market for medical marijuana in Michigan could lead to millions of dollars in new state tax revenue.

Exactly how much is open to interpretation, but some analysts’ estimates suggest it could top $63 million a year.

New regulations for the state’s medical marijuana industry, signed by Gov. Rick Snyder and taking effect in December (though a licensing system won’t be active until December 2017), will require a 3% excise tax on dispensaries’ gross sales receipts.

For Matt Kurth, the essentials of life have come through his love of the outdoors and organic gardening. And cannabis.

When he tried to blend two of these passions and grow marijuana one year, he found that he had his work cut out for him.

“I wanted to be a grower and then I tried it and it’s a ton of work,” he said. “People who don’t grow don’t realize how difficult it is.”

So after Humboldt County created a commercial medical marijuana market this year, Kurth, 33, decided to combine cannabis with his experience in the outdoor recreational industry to create what could be the county’s first cannabis tourism company — Humboldt Cannabis Tours. 

Voters could legalize recreational marijuana in five states this November and medical marijuana in three more. This record number of state ballot measures promise to be a great boon for the cannabusiness industry. With national prohibitions against interstate cannabis commerce, as well as current federal banking and drug laws, large companies have been kept out of the industry, so the market is still primarily comprised of small businesses.

California, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada will consider legalizing  the recreational use of cannabis while Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota will decide on marijuana for medical purposes.

What’s going on state by state?

California, Prop 64 

Unlike long-allowed hemp seed beer, this one comes with cannabinoids.

A Colorado company says it has cleared a major hurdle to distribute cannabis-infused beer nationwide, and that it's developed the business relationships necessary to rapidly scale up production to meet what could be enormous demand.

The company, Aurora-based Dad and Dude's Breweria, says it has received federal formula approval for an extract-infused beer variety from the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which acts as gatekeeper for interstate beer sales.

British Columbians are split on how recreational marijuana should be sold once it’s legal, but stand-alone shops like the dispensaries that line Vancouver’s streets are the most popular option, according to a new poll.

The latest survey from Insights West suggests 38 per cent of people in this province would prefer to see pot-specific stores, beating out weed sales in pharmacies (23 per cent) or liquor stores (24 per cent).

That’s welcome news to Sunny Bhayana, co-director of The Herb Co. on Main Street, one of the few licensed shops in Vancouver. He believes the dispensary system could have a potent effect on the country’s economy.

Edible weed makers want to take a bite out of the $5.4 billion legal marijuana industry in what seems like the most counterintuitive way possible: give people less pot.

Small-dose, or "microdosed," edibles make up one of the fastest rising sectors of the industry, according to a group of panelists at the recent New West Summit in San Francisco, California.

Cedella Marley’s voice has an intoxicating Jamaica lilt, the sound of a heritage she has long shared with fans of her late father, Bob Marley. Cedella is the eldest child of the legendary reggae artist and spiritual leader of cannabis culture.

More than 35 years after his death, Cedella and the Marley family have jumped into the cannabis business in partnership with Seattle-based Privateer Holdings. They are launching Marley Natural, a line of hemp body products, elegant black walnut accessories and smartly packaged bud — what the superstar called “the herb.”

“We’re very excited to bring Marley Natural to Canada,” said Marley.