The first organization authorized to dispense medical marijuana in Florida has made its first home delivery.

Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, said Saturday that the company has delivered low-THC medical cannabis to a patient in Hudson, Florida, who is suffering from dystonia, a condition characterized by chronic muscle spasms and seizures. Hudson is in Pasco County, near Tampa.

Trulieve and Hackney Nursery, which is the dispensing organization for Northwest Florida, received processing and dispensing authorization from the state Department of Health on Tuesday. Trulieve plans to begin in-store sales at a dispensary in Tallahassee on Tuesday.

Is a reintroduction in the cards for this contentious crop?

Ryan Loflin bet the farm in 2013 and did what no U.S. producer had done for 70 years.

The Springfield, Colo., farmer ordered hemp seed by mail from Europe and stockpiled his supply bit by precious bit. When the cache climbed to 1,500 lb., Loflin dotted 60 acres of flat ground with hemp seed. Then he waited for Uncle Sam to come knocking.

No cease and desist letter. No phone call from the feds. No Drug Enforcement Agency raid. Loflin became the first U.S. farmer since the 1940s to plant and harvest industrial hemp. 

Particularly in an ag economy with low commodity prices, hemp is beckoning U.S. farmers. Federal prohibition remains in place, but some states are moving forward with legalization. 

Heliospectra AB (publ) (OTCQB:HLSPY, FIRSTNORTH:HELIO), a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for controlled environments horticulture, is pleased to announce that Green Leaf, a recently licensed cannabis cultivation facility in Alaska, selected the Heliospectra LED lighting system. Green Leaf owner-operator Aaron Bean chose the Heliospectra LED-based solution after determining that it is the only product in the marketplace with the power and versatility to support every stage of the cannabis growth cycle.

Canada’s licensed medical cannabis producers are searching for opportunities to expand overseas while Ottawa works on its plan to legalize recreational marijuana next spring, with two producers recently securing licences to sell their products in Europe.

The latest company to announce plans to export marijuana is Canopy Growth Corp., the largest of the country’s two dozen licensed producers. Canopy Growth said it would soon begin selling dried cannabis in pharmacies across Germany after securing an export licence from Health Canada on Wednesday. The company also said it had signed partnerships to share its technical expertise with medical marijuana companies in Brazil and Australia.

Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTC PINK: FRLF) the successful publishing and licensing company behind the legal cannabis industry, has quickly reached important revenue-driving milestones in Spain and The Netherlands in its international branding effort.

Freedom Leaf, Inc. has drawn interest from overseas licensees seeking access to its brand, its editorial content, ability to put on events, along with premium products and services under its banner. "We're a magnet to attract mergers and acquisitions, incubation of new companies and spinoffs," said Cliff Perry, CEO of Freedom Leaf, Inc. "Our news, media, entertainment platforms and other properties raise awareness for investors and seed more potential deal flow"

hen you bring outside capital into your business, you’re getting more than a quick injection of cash. Accompanying the money into your company is a new set of stakeholders: Your investors.

The relationship you build with these people or groups will have a direct and lasting impact on the success of your venture. Beyond weighing in on your plan and decisions through their voting rights, investors can become partners, clients and ambassadors of your business. The successful ones are typically well connected—they can open doors you didn’t know existed.

The nondescript building in east Boulder is like many other in the city; it is, in fact, identical to several surrounding structures. Passing motorists and pedestrians wouldn’t know that there’s a multi-million dollar manufacturing operation inside. And that’s the way the folks at CW Hemp want it.

Even if someone did manage to peek inside the 18,000-square-foot lab, warehouse and office space, they wouldn’t know that one of the most famous strains of hemp in the world is processed here.

Between 600 and 1,000 units of CW’s product ship from the premises each month, extracted from a strain of the plant called Charlotte’s Web, made famous by the 2013 Sanjay Gupta-hosted CNN documentary “Weed.”

The marijuana industry has been on an incredible ride over the past 20 years, and it appears as if that ride could pick up steam once again come November.

Canopy San Diego is looking to invest in early-stage cannabis related companies ranging from water conservation systems to tracking and shipping software.

While Californians consider legalizing recreational pot use, a few San Diego entrepreneurs are already casting their vote in favor of the state’s cannabis industry.

The group, called Canopy San Diego, is accepting applications for its pot-themed technology accelerator, a first for Southern California. The concept is to find and fund early-stage companies with ideas that can assist the state’s dispensaries and growers. That could range from water conservation tools to more optimal packaging; payroll software to analytics.

It was a close family member’s battle with serious illness that inspired Sydney entrepreneur Adam Miller to create his new business.

Miller saw her go in and out of hospital for six years, and after researching the impact of medical marijuana, decided that it could help. But there was one big problem: it still wasn’t legal in Australia.

“I did enough research to believe that this medicine would suit her nicely and would really help her,” Miller tells StartupSmart.

“But she’s very conservative and until it’s made legal, she isn’t going to consider it.”