State law permits a total of three medical marijuana dispensaries. The First State Compassion Center is located in New Castle County. Eleven applications for Kent and Sussex counties are under review.

A former Delaware State Trooper, Mark Lally long considered himself a skeptic when it came to legalizing medical marijuana. He’d spent much of his career hunting down meth labs and uncovering large drug networks as part of a special investigations unit. Marijuana wasn’t his top priority, he admitted, but it was still an illegal drug.

Then, after retiring from law enforcement, he became a lobbyist and began to see the issue from a policy angle. 

“I didn’t realize the medial benefits,” he said. “And as a lobbyist and Delawarean, I’m very interested in good policy.”

Like many drug barons in Colombia, Federico Cock-Correa wants to sell his product globally. Just 15 miles outside Medellín, Mr. Cock-Correa is looking to replace vast acres of flowers with marijuana plants, with plans to export the harvest.

But unlike the brutal heroin and cocaine trade that once flourished nearby, his operation has the government’s stamp of approval.

There is a push on to make sure the Windsor area is at the forefront when Canada legalizes the recreational use of marijuana, and it’s coming from a surprising source.

The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce wants input when the federal legislation is drafted to ensure the area gets its fair share of the potential $5-billion dollar industry.

“We have an emerging cannabis marketplace and we want to be at the forefront in the industry for whatever the future holds,” Matt Marchand, CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday.

“Windsor-Essex is a global leader in agricultural production and research. We have skilled talent in the agricultural community, so we want to make sure the economic benefits for Essex County are maximized.”

JPMorgan…you are late.

Yesterday, JPMorgan recommended Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) to its clients and changed its rating to Buy from Hold because it believes Scotts’ recent hydroponics business acquisitions will pay off as legal marijuana use increases.

JPMorgan’s analyst said, “We view Scotts as a reasonably valued investment over a longer time frame as weather impacts have understated Scotts' sales growth and Scotts' investment in its faster growing hydroponics portfolio should provide further upside.”

Just More Than a Year Late

In April 2015, Technical420 highlighted Scotts Miracle Gro as an ancillary play on marijuana in this article.

In 1992, Amir Varick Amma was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on drug charges. Convicted of two nonviolent drug felonies, he was unfortunate to be sentenced under the Rockefeller drug laws – resulting in a harsh sentence typically reserved for murderers.

After drug law reforms were passed in New York in 2004 and 2009, a judge reduced Amma’s sentence. He was released after spending 19 years behind bars.

Denver Relief, Colorado’s original medical and recreational cannabis operation dedicated to responsible growing practices, announced today the sale of their licensed Optional Premises Cultivation (OPC) and Manufacturer of Infused Products (MIP) facilities to CMH Brands, a Colorado licensee and processor of Willie’s Reserve. Willie’s Reserve is the much-anticipated premium cannabis brand by award-winning musician, actor, author and longtime marijuana advocate, Willie Nelson. Denver Relief, founded in 2009, is the longest-established cannabis business in the city and is a main cog in kick starting the modern marijuana movement.

Since the possession and use of cannabis recreationally was legalized in Colorado, the state has experienced a significant growth in tourism.  Many new visitors to Colorado are interested in cannabis for a variety of reasons - either as a future business prospect - for medical reasons - or simply a tourist who wants to visit a dispensary.  

Many of these new visitors however, have complained that once they arrive in Colorado - they have difficulty finding a place to smoke - because many hotels in Colorado have banned smoking altogether - and specifically prohibit the consumption of cannabis on their property.  

Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- (NASDAQ:GWPH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

The benefits of cultivating and processing hemp domestically go beyond the economic advantages. Making hemp farming federally legal and increasing the number of crops nationwide could make a powerful impact on our efforts to prevent global warming.

Last week, Colorado Hemp Company and NoCo Hemp Expo hosted Hemp On The Slope, an event in Collbran, Colorado, meant to educate and inform the community on the benefits of domestic hemp cultivation. Among the most significant of the benefits? Industrial hemp farming reduces our carbon footprint and thereby combats global warming.