Many legitimate marijuana businesses are still locked out of the financial system.

Marijuana-related businesses in Colorado are so profitable that the government doesn't know what to do with all of the tax revenue they're generating. But business owners face a more immediate problem: Where to stash their own profits when banks won't take it.

While New York’s medical marijuana program is scheduled to go into effect this January, it is uncertain whether enough doctors will be able to recommend cannabis to the patients who need it most.

Kristian Rouz – The US state of Washington is anticipating to extract significant fiscal benefits from legal marijuana sales as the market has been booming since legalizing the licensed use of medical and recreational weed.

However, Olympia’s bright fiscal outlook might be undermined, as the marijuana industry in the neighboring state of Oregon is starting to distract customers from the Evergreen State.

The ‘weed craze’ in Portland has offered more often than not more attractive prices since the legalization bill was adopted in July, thus impairing the commercial performance of pot shops in the Seattle-Vancouver border region.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes widespread muscle and joint pain. Estimates suggest that about five million adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with the condition each year, with women affected at least eight times more often than men.

Nicole Gonzalez spent her teenage summers working in the Dominican Republic and Central America where her grandfather owned tobacco fields. Cigar-making was a male-dominated industry but her strong-willed mother always told Nicole, “You better be big in this world.” That motivation propelled Nicole and her husband Ata, both in their twenties at the time and without college degrees but both entrepreneurs, to move from Florida to California to join the budding marijuana industry in 2009.

Norton Arbelaez has met some unusual people in his six years working in the medical marijuana industry, but one patient who gingerly walked into New England Treatment Access in Northampton, the latest marijuana dispensary to open in Massachusetts, took him by surprise.

The patient was seeking relief from gnawing foot pain, a pain the man said had plagued him for 70 years.

“I was really blown away when this older gentleman walked in and he described to me his experience in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II,” said Arbelaez, New England Treatment’s consultant for standards and practices. “His feet froze during that battle [in the winter of 1944], and he said he found a lot of relief from medical cannabis products.”

In late February, a law legalizing many aspects of marijuana went into effect in DC. Specifically, the law made it legal to possess a maximum of two ounces of marijuana, transfer up to one ounce to another person without any money changing hands, and grow a maximum of six marijuana plants in a home.

Many industries are now looking for ways to capitalize on the new law, and that includes condo developers.

Eric Hirshfield recently finished two, four-level condos that sit side-by-side on the 500 block of Kenyon Street NW. The units have features that buyers would expect of a new condo, like a gourmet kitchen, oak flooring, and marble baths.

AKRON, Ohio – Kathy Stitzlein isn't saying which way she'll vote on Issue 3 – the initiative that would, in one fell swoop, legalize recreational and medical marijuana use in Ohio – but the University of Akron Ph.D. student could have key business stake in how the measure plays out across the state come November.

Stitzlein, who is studying biomedical engineering, has invented the marijuana equivalent of the Breathalyzer, a detection system that is being made for roadside use. The Cannibuster, as it's called, is still being lab-tested but would ultimately read a user's THC levels, the chemical responsible for pot's psychoactive effects, using a quick, non-invasive saliva test.'

It all started, she said, as an extra-credit assignment.

It’s been nearly a year since Oregon voters passed Measure 91, its very own law legalizing marijuana for recreational consumption and possession by those over the age of 21. Taking cues and lessons from both Colorado and Washington, which passed their own bills in November 2012, Oregon became one of two states to vote in a legalization measure last year, along with Alaska.

Citiva Medical, a research company specialising in safe and effective cannabis-based products, is making strides in Jamaica.

In July, Citiva forged a partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, to identify which combinations of cannabinoids are effective at treating specific diseases and symptoms.

"Hopefully, with the help of UWI, Citiva can begin to understand how and why cannabis has been effective at treating the various disease states we've seen success with," said Josh Stanley, founder and CEO of Citiva.

"We are excited to partner with Citiva; they have done so much to advance this industry and people's understanding of the potential benefits of cannabis," said UWI principal Dr Archibald McDonald.