Long gone are the scary days of Reefer Madness and an insurmountable societal fear of cannabis. CNN's Sanjay Gupta recently blew up a 70-year myth about the enigmatic herb, confirming its medicinal properties. This, while some states are legalizing the herb's recreational use, and even more states already permit medical marijuana and its derivatives.

Alaska is nearing its first legal sales of marijuana, nearly two years after voters approved the recreational use of pot by adults.

Retails stores are being permitted by the state Marijuana Control Board, and just a few hurdles remain until commercial sales begin.

The biggest obstacle is waiting for labs to test the raw product. Two labs have been licensed by the state, both in Anchorage.

One of those, CannTest, should be open by mid- to late October, said co-owner Mark Malagodi. The facility is awaiting final inspection from the municipality and state and final approval from an accrediting lab.

"If we're going to start testing by definitely the beginning of November, I think it rolls in pretty well with everything else," he said.

California’s Wild West of medical marijuana is about to be tamed, on the eve of a historic vote that could greatly expand recreational use of cannabis.

Just as labeling allows consumers to trust the difference in potency between a strawberry-rosé spritzer and 190-proof grain alcohol, new state regulations will demand testing, labeling, certification and licensing medical marijuana — every step along the way, from seed to sale.

The new rules, starting in 2018, could also boost pot prices, as businesses face more paperwork, permits, licenses and other new requirements, driving up their costs — and likely pushing some mom-and-pop growers and dispensaries out of business.

Growing cannabis uses a lot of energy, according to a report by EQ Research LLC, an organization that provides clean energy analysis for businesses and nonprofits. According to the report, cannabis grow facilities have energy needs similar to those of data centers.

The reason cannabis cultivation is so energy intensive, says Rachael Speegle, director of operations at the Verdes Foundation, New Mexico's highest-grossing medical cannabis producer, is because the plants are usually grown inside.

Canada “could be to cannabis what France is to wine,” Toronto coffee shop owner Alan Gertner said in June. He was speaking at The Economist’s Canada Summit, and the aspirational analogy resonated far and high. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “absolutely disagreed” with Gertner’s assertion—but only because of the high “calibre of Canadian wines,” reported The Huffington Post Canada.

Bob Marley's youngest son, along with business partner Ocean Grown Extracts, has created a poetic metaphor and multi-million dollar business model in one.

Damian Marley has announced that he, in partnership with Ocean Grown Extracts, is converting a former 77,000 square foot California State prison into a cannabis grow space that will cultivate medical marijuana for state dispensaries.

"Many people sacrificed so much for the herb over the years who got locked up," says Marley, 38, noting the poetic justice of turning a prison that once housed non-violent drug offenders into a cannabis cultivation facility. "If this [venture] helps people and it's used for medicinal purposes and inspires people, it's a success."

Even as they shed old stoner stereotypes, cannabis growers are already being labeled with a new stigma: resource hogs.

In Oregon, where many consumers want everything to be sustainable, there's a retail-side push for growers to use different methods. But varying climates throughout the states, as well as an uncertain regulatory environment, can make things hard for growers who want to use more eco-friendly methods.

Depending on where you live and your sociopolitical education, your view of the cannabis industry might be skewed. Many people still hold this antiquated view of a bunch of hemp wearing unkempt hippies sitting around in a circle stuffing marijuana into bags. Most of us know better. In states where marijuana is at least legal for medicinal use a strong technical infrastructure is being built around the cannabis business. From dispensary management software to mobile applications and cannabinoid research, the cannabis industry is getting a 2.0 upgrade.

A college in the Atlantic Canadian province of New Brunswick plans to institute a programme on marijuana cultivation so that students can be trained to work at local companies that produce the drug, a school official says.

The French-language College Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick will launch the course sometime next year, said Michel Doucet, executive director of continuing education and customized learning.

Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned last year on a promise to legalise recreational marijuana and the government has said it would introduce legislation by the spring of 2017.