With the increasing number of states allowing the use of marijuana -- medically and recreationally -- the allure of marijuana stocks is understandable. It's a lot easier to make money in growing industries.

But before investors buy marijuana stocks, they should know what they're getting themselves into.

Fake news is unfortunately rampant in our age of mass communication, and the marijuana industry is not immune. There are sites reporting that the Trump Administration is planning on raiding legal dispensaries in various states, and after investigating these reports, 420 Intel concludes that these claims are unfounded. We cannot find any evidence to support them, and we are warning cannabis busineses to be wary of speculative articles like this one (note the clickbaity title):

Trump's administration intend to raid legal marijuana dispensaries

Not all medicinal marijuana is created equal. That's what some experts are saying as they warn about the health risks and curtailed effectiveness associated with smoking medicine.

As medical pot becomes increasingly mainstream and Canada moves toward legalizing the substance, health experts are emphasizing the need for doctors and patients to consider the sometimes serious side effects linked to the various ways of consuming the drug.

Paul Farnan, an addictions specialist at the University of British Columbia, likened a recommendation to smoke medicinal marijuana to a doctor handing out a prescription to light up an opium pipe.

When someone thinks about the cannabis industry, they typically think of a dispensary or a grow facility.

Although these concepts might seem be some of the sexiest and most lucrative, are they as attractive on paper and are they the best long-term investment?

The answer to questions like these differs from person-to-person and has a lot to do with personal preference and aspirations. Retail dispensaries and grow facilities have proven to be profitable but many fail and the causes can be even more wide ranging.

As Canada’s prime minister talks up the imminent legalization of marijuana, a Vancouver-based pharmaceutical startup is taking the cannabis plant apart to find compounds that could treat disorders ranging from glaucoma to a rare skin disorder.

InMed Pharmaceuticals aims to use the more than 100 different “cannabinoids” as the raw materials for a number of clinical applications.

“We’re going far away from any so-called recreational (use),” said InMed chief medical officer Dr. Ado Muhammad. “We’re going away completely from that direction, to make sure that the product is comparable to any other antibiotics or drugs.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rejecting recommendations from British Columbia’s top health officials to widen the scope of his government’s decriminalization agenda beyond marijuana to help stem the country’s growing opioid crisis.

Mr. Trudeau will meet Friday with health experts in Vancouver to discuss Canada’s response to the rising toll of overdose deaths, the latest in a series of meetings where he has engaged with British Columbians on the front lines of the deadly opioid battle.

A Saskatoon medical marijuana company says its products have been given a clean bill of health after undergoing voluntary testing.

Last month, CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. commissioned a B.C. company to do third-party testing of its plant and oil products for dozens of pesticides and fungicides.

President Brent Zettl said even though the company was confident it doesn't have any of those elements in its products, "let's just check and make sure. Let's put our stuff through the batteries and see."

He added: "We could have put up our hand a long time ago and say, 'Hey, we don't use them,' but it sort of rings hollow unless you have evidence from someone who is a third party, so that's why we did what we did."

Former N.S. premier helping cannabis industry clients as vice-chair of government-relations firm.

Darrell Dexter's newest interest is marijuana. 

The former NDP premier of Nova Scotia is a vice-chair at Global Public Affairs, the country's largest privately held government relations firm. Dexter will be leading the firm's cannabis industry clients as marijuana legislation and regulations are rolled out.

He spoke by phone from Calgary with the CBC's Elizabeth Chiu. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why are you interested in lobbying for the marijuana industry?

420 Intel is delighted to announce the launch of a brand new business directory service!

Business owners are continually looking to garner more customers and gain greater exposure for their products and services. One of the most supreme ways to expose your company to a wider audience online is to list yourself on a business directory. Once your business appears on the listing, you increase the chances and the number of ways that you can be discovered by potential customers. You need to choose a business directory that can offer the most exposure to your target market.

A marijuana cultivator that's been called the "Tesla of cannabis" is bringing the industry out of the darkness and into the light — literally.

Tantalus Labs, which could start selling product as early as 2018, has wrapped construction on a state-of-the-art cultivation site designed to give marijuana plants the benefits of indoor and outdoor growing. The greenhouse lets sunlight pour in, enabling the plants to grow fuller buds faster.