A new study revealed that there was “moderate-quality evidence” to support the use of cannabinoid compounds for the treatment of chronic pain and spasticity. The same report also found that there was “lower-quality evidence” suggesting that cannabinoids were associated with improvements in nausea and vomiting chemotherapy, sleep disorders and Tourette syndrome.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a peer-reviewed medical produced by the American Medical Association (AMA), the analysis reviewed 79 trials that fit the criteria for assessment. These studies included 6,462 participants.

Judging by the scene at Pot Luck Events on Wednesday night, one would never guess the state has advised the club to shut down.

Members had come to the downtown Anchorage marijuana social club to smoke, take dab hits and watch the “Chronic Comedy Show,” while eating free candy provided at the nonalcoholic bar. “Bud of the week” samples -- provided by growers, not the club, owner Theresa Collins explained -- were displayed on a table in the back of the room.

Yet the club, which has been open since March, is one of six businesses that received cease-and-desist letters from Cynthia Franklin, director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and the newly created Marijuana Control Board, in late June.

The business of selling marijuana legally — for medical and recreational purposes — is expanding. But so are concerns that African-Americans are being shut out of this new industry.

Monterey County Supervisor John Phillips chuckles when he talks about his interest in regulating and protecting the medical cannabis industry. He admits it’s a little weird for someone like him – a Republican ex-prosecutor – to take up the cause.

But since taking office in January, Phillips has heard from a number of constituents and their representatives, asking for a county policy on pot. “Some of them were pretty credible people,” Phillips says.

One was PR strategist David Armanasco, who’s repping growers (although he won’t say who). “They believe there are areas in the Salinas Valley that will be good for cultivation of medical marijuana,” he says.

When it is fully legalized, cannabis will be regulated just like any other consumable product. Scientific testing to determine potency and safety will be mandated, as it is in Washington and Colorado. However, producers in these states have frequently complained about inconsistent results when they have submitted samples from the same lot to different labs. This has caused many to question the validity of mandated testing, the individual laboratories, and the science of cannabis testing itself.

Sometimes the most difficult plight of new investors in the cannabis sector is to know where to start learning and what information to trust. If you are planning on investing long-term, it is important that you learn as much as you can about the companies.

With current cut-and-paste technology, compiling a file about a company is easy, so start with basics, add on from there, and you may be surprised at how fast the information grows. There are a number of websites reporting news and developments in cannabis research and investment; however, they are not totally unbiased, but your knowledge search should be, so read several sources to start choosing companies to investigate.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul is welcomed before making a speech during a campaign stop at a sports bar in the Cherry Creek area Tuesday, June 30, 2015, in Denver. Earlier in the day, Paul made a stop at a cannabis industry convention in downtown Denver to speak to people in the marijuana industry behind closed doors.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

(Denver, CO/GÖTEBORG, Sweden/SAN FRANCISCO, CA: June 30, 2015) Dixie Brands, Inc. (Dixie) the most trusted source for innovative, safe, effective and delicious cannabis products has tapped American Cannabis Company, Inc. (OTCQB: AMMJ), a full-service cannabis industry consultant and provider of proprietary and preferred products, for management of their new cultivation facility which will feature energy efficient lighting technology from Heliospectra AB (OTCQB: HLSPY, FIRSTNORTH: HELIO), a world leader in intelligent lighting technologies for plant research and greenhouse cultivation.

American Green Inc., a Tempe-based technology company that works in the medical marijuana industry, has bought a Denver business that provides a unique cloud-based system to track products.

American Green plans to use TrackX LLC’s patented radio frequency identification tracking and physical asset management system to track medical marijuana products for the first time, said Greg Patrick, marketing director for American Green.

“Twenty-three states are now legal for medicinal marijuana. What’s holding the federal government back is you have to track everything from seed to sale,” Patrick told me Tuesday. “They have to know where it comes from, and it’s a whole tracking nightmare."

Mobile payment transactions may not be the standard yet but there are a lot of people who prefer this method simply because of its ease and convenience. Others are simply worried about privacy and security but developers like Facebook know how to make an app secure all the time. Frequent updates and releases make sure the app is  always in tip-top shape.