What makes a company in the cannabis sector investable? Given the rapid growth of the cannabis industry, many entrepreneurs and investors are asking that exact question, which is precisely why we tracked down Aubree Aries, CEO and Co-Founder of Greenleaf Joint Ventures. Aubree comes from a cannabis pedigree that few others can match in the industry and he offers a fresh take to investing in this emerging space.

If anyone would have suggested a year ago that Ohio might be on the verge of legalizing marijuana in 2015, I would have laughed at the idea.

First, Ohio is a conservative Midwestern state that is seldom, if ever, on the cutting edge on social issues. And second, 2015 is an off-year election, with no statewide or federal elections, meaning the voter turn-out would be lower and the likely voters would be older and less supportive than would be the case if the proposal were on the ballot in 2016, a presidential election year when younger voters turn out in far higher numbers.

This week’s best city stories from around the web talk about marijuana zones in California, a forgotten waterway under the streets of Auckland, a mushroom farm in Camden and mime-artist-assisted traffic control in Bogotá. We’d love to hear your responses to these stories, and any others you’ve read recently, both on Guardian Cities and elsewhere. Just share your thoughts in the comments below.

Pot city

As more and more U.S. states legalize medical and recreational marijuana sales, the lucrative industry requires an increasing diversity of jobs to run smoothly. Indeed, cannabis relies on people with skills and experience from a wider range of fields than practically any other business. Check out a handful of jobs in the pot game you might not know even existed.

South Dakotans have long been using marijuana illegally to treat a variety of aliments. A new initiated measure is aiming to legalize up to three ounces of marijuana for patients with serious medical conditions. The patient would need two separate doctor recommendations. 

Republican state Sen. Craig Tieszen isn't the stereotypical backer of medical marijuana in South Dakota.

For more than three decades, Tieszen wore a badge as a police officer, spending the last seven years of his career as Rapid City police chief.

And now he is a suit-wearing lawmaker, who is serving the final year of his fourth term in the South Dakota Senate.

Amelia Weaver, 9, started receiving medical marijuana treatments Friday for a rare form of epilepsy. Her parents say that her seizures have decreased dramatically since treatment began.

It's early days, but a Hibbing couple are ecstatic about their daughter's initial response to treatment with medical marijuana.

"We gave her her first dose on Friday morning," Angie Weaver said on Monday about 9-year-old daughter Amelia. "She had a seizure-free day."

Amelia, who has Dravet syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy, had been suffering between 30 and 80 drop seizures per day, her mother said. In a drop seizure, the individual temporarily loses muscle strength and often falls without any ability to catch herself.

George Hackney stands in the growing field of his business, Hackney Nursery. He is is trying to become northwest Florida's sole, state-approved provider of Charlotte's Web, a low THC strand of marijuana used to treat children who suffer from seizures.

Hackney Nursery, known for growing the famous hedges surrounding the Georgia Bulldogs’ Sanford Stadium in Athens, is now looking to add diversity to its growing selections.

This weed isn’t meant to get people high. In fact, you can’t even smoke the medicinal marijuana the Quincy-based grower will develop. On July 8, Hackney submitted an application to cultivate, process and distribute non-euphoric cannabis in the northwest region in Florida.

“We’ve done what we believe to be the best application, and we think that based upon what we know regarding our application, it should be well received by the state and let the chips fall where they may,” he said.

“So we are patiently, sometimes nervously, waiting for an answer from the state,” Daniel said. “Fingers crossed, toes crossed and legs crossed.”

Daniel and his team at Alternative Medicine Associates filed plans for a $25 million development project to convert the former Tyson plant in Buffalo into a medical marijuana production facility.

As Breitbart News reported in “Pot Tax: Sacramento Politicians ‘Jonesing’ for a Spending Fix,” the Democrat-controlled California Legislature is desperate for marijuana taxes, which could arise from a 2016 ballot initiative legalizing marijuana, in hopes of gaining a consistent new tax revenue source.

However, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) estimates that illegal pot growing is drying up watersheds and causing some at-risk fisheries to approach collapse.

EMMA Litleton will conduct an international hunt to discover how medicinal cannabis can best treat seriously-ill children.

The Moonee Valley woman is among 23 Winston Churchill Memorial Trust recipients, which will enable her to head overseas to pursue her studies.

Ms Litleton, a senior solicitor, is a specialist in children’s law and said the prevalence of children being treated with cannabis oil had increased.

“There’s a lot of ethical issues with children, where we have to ensure that their best interests are met and that it is safe,” Ms Litleton said.

He said children given cannabis mainly had “serious epilepsy” and their parents had found conventional medication wasn’t working.