BOULDER — Nascent cannabis entrepreneurs from Canopy Boulder’s fall class faced a tough crowd of investors at eTown Hall on Wednesday, fielding questions about unproven business models and inflated valuations during an investor preview round of pitches.

Teams from nine companies presented in private sessions to groups of local investors, a warm-up of sorts to the public event Wednesday evening. About 30 investors were in attendance, full of advice for the green businesses.

“Don’t pitch me a product; pitch me the market,” said Don Grede, chief capital officer for California-based Aquarius Cannabis, a marijuana branding company. “You should be able to tell me why I should invest without even identifying the product.”

KENT COUNTY, MI – Police raided three marijuana dispensaries in Plainfield Township alleging the businesses violated Michigan's medical marijuana law.

The dispensaries are at 4290 Plainfield Ave. NE, 4564 West River Drive NE and 5260 Northland Drive NE, Suite F, police said.

Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team and Metropolitan Enforcement began investigating earlier this month after both teams received multiple Silent Observer tips about illegal marijuana sales, police said.

Investigators conducted several undercover visits and found that all three dispensaries were selling marijuana in violation of the medical marijuana law, police said. Police used search warrants to raid the facilities on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

As cannabis regulatory change wafts through major American states and budding entrepreneurs hungry for profit high jack everything green I thought it was time to share the results of the biggest study of Butane Hash Oil (BHO, cannabis concentrates) ever conducted. It was undertaken as part of Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2015. A blog piece published here a year ago was met by a fair bit of moral grandstanding (although I learned quite a bit from the comments). It was suggested that as an addiction specialist anything I had to say was tarnished by the fact that I made money from addiction. I thought that was rather unfair - my interest is to help people use drugs more safely and if they never need to seek help beyond good quality information that is great.

CONCORD, N.H. 

The lawyer for a New Hampshire woman with late-stage lung cancer says she could get medical marijuana in Maine if New Hampshire health officials issue her an identification card saying she's eligible.

Linda Horan of Alstead wants a judge to order the state to issue her a medical marijuana ID card before dispensaries open in New Hampshire next year. Lawyers for the state argue that would undermine New Hampshire's need to control distribution at its alternative treatment centers.

Horan said after a hearing last week that she may be dead before in-state dispensaries open.

Her lawyer filed affidavits Thursday from Maine dispensary operators saying Horan could get marijuana there with a New Hampshire ID card.

With the adoption of more state laws to legalize marijuana, employers will face challenges to protect their employees from injury and to comply with federal requirements to maintain a drug-free workplace.

Employers also face potentially costly litigation as case law surrounding legal marijuana develops, according to the Quest Diagnostics whitepaper “What Will ‘Legal’ Marijuana Cost Employers?”

While those of us in the Illinois cannabis community are celebrating the rolling out of the Medical Cannabis Pilot Program, a woman in Kansas, Shona Banda, is suffering greatly because she just happens to live in a state where marijuana cannabis is illegal. In fact, she is being depicted as a criminal when she is merely trying to save her own life in order to parent her children. Is that too much to ask?

Since 1985 cigarette packages sold in the United States have carried four rotating warnings from the surgeon general, including this one: “Smoking by Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low Birth Weight.” Since 1989 the labels of alcoholic beverages have included this government-mandated warning: “According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.” This week the American Medical Association (AMA) proposed a similar

One of the arguments for keeping marijuana illegal is that no one really goes to jail anymore after getting arrested—as if that makes it okay. It’s not really true (because people do go to jail), but let’s examine the claim on its own terms and look at what happens to people who are arrested and not sent to jail. 

What happens to them? In some cases, they pay a fine. In most cases, though, they are placed on probation. What’s wrong with this? Plenty.

Probation is generally a wise and useful sentencing option, especially for non-violent offenders. Why, though, should it be considered an appropriate sanction for marijuana users? 

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- There are new details about Wednesday's raid of three medical marijuana dispensaries in Kent County.

The Kent County Undersheriff tells WZZM 13 that state and county narcotics teams conducted several undercover operations and then seized marijuana and cash from the businesses in Plainfield Township.

If Thursday mid-morning was any indication, the building marked TPC on West River Drive in Plainfield Township gets its share of traffic.

"Look, you've got customers coming," said patient Adrian Joseph, "and they can't get their medicine right now."

However, a short time later there was an empty parking lot as it became clear to patients with medical marijuana cards the doors are closed.

REGARDING YOUR Nov. 13 editorial in support of the Bay State Repeal model for legalizing marijuana, I agree that having the Department of Agriculture regulate marijuana makes sense. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol seems to believe that regulating marijuana like Kryptonite will appeal to voters.