Quarterly filings with the state showed that online dispensary locator Weedmaps was again the biggest advocacy spender in the cannabis industry.

Spending on marijuana lobbying in California surged past $455,000 in the second quarter, fueled by a debate over cannabis delivery services and the drafting of final adult-use and medical regulations.

Yesterday, President Donald Trump said he likely will support a congressional effort to end the federal ban on cannabis. I think we can all agree that this would be a major step that would reshape the pot industry and end the threat of a Justice Department crackdown.

Trump made his comments to a bunch of reporters Friday morning before he boarded a helicopter on his way to the G-7 summit in Canada. His remarks came the day after the bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed its measure.

One of the lead sponsors is Senator Cory Gardner. “I support Sen. Gardner,” Trump said when asked about the bill. “I know exactly what he’s doing. We’re looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes.”

After hearing arguments in favor of the ban by other supervisors and Chinatown residents, the board voted 8-3 to change the city code.

On Tuesday, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to ban dispensaries in the city’s historic Chinatown district.

The vote changes the city’s planning code to prohibit both medical and recreational dispensaries from doing business in the neighborhood. San Francisco Supervisors say they made the move in an effort to protect Chinatown’s long-time residents and businesses from displacement. But critics of the change contend that the threat of gentrification, concerns over which led to the vote, is overstated.

Los Angeles began accepting license applications from marijuana growers, manufacturers and testing companies Wednesday, after months of delays that left many businesses in the state's largest legal marketplace struggling to survive.

The start of the process arrived with a mix of relief and anxiety from businesses that have been waiting since Jan. 1, when California broadly legalized cannabis for adults, to enter the legal economy.

"We've been hanging on by the skin of our teeth," said retailer and cultivator Donnie Anderson, who has been paying thousands of dollars of rent for months on commercial space he hasn't been able to use without a cultivation license.

The State Bureau of Cannabis Control will be in Oakland Wednesday, working to finalize the state's rules on growing and selling recreational cannabis. The Bureau hit its latest target, requiring all pot be tested before it hit store shelves the first of this month. But, it was just one of the many hurdles ahead.

Outside of Sacramento, the state Bureau of Cannabis is busy bringing thousands of retailers into compliance with state law.

"Things are going as well as expected, of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, there's still a lot of issues to be resolved, but we're working hard here," said Lori Ajax, the state's cannabis czar.

It's her job to make the rules to regulate the state's new cannabis industry.

Cannabis beers and other alcoholic beverages are seen as a possible major market in the marijuana industry.

However if you want to make a cannabis beer in California, you'll have to make sure it's non-alcoholic, writes Calvin Hughes.

The pink menus at Coffee Dose, a Costa Mesa coffee shop, list lattes infused with trendy ingredients such as tumeric powder and grass-fed butter.

The menus also have several ingredients carefully hidden by lines of Wite-Out. But look closely enough and you can make out two words: “CBD oil.”

Cannabidiol, known as CBD, is one of more than 100 compounds found in cannabis. The chemical doesn’t make consumers high, but international demand for CBD is growing as word spreads about its potential medical benefits, including claims that CBD can ease seizures, calm anxiety and reduce inflammation.

Last week, more than 7,500 cannabis industry professional joined together in San Jose, California, for the 5^th annual Cannabis Business Summit and Expo hosted by the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA).

The show kicked off on Wednesday with tours of local dispensaries and various workshops about the industry.

 Thursday morning opened with a keynote presentation from James Cole, former deputy attorney general of the United States and author of the ‘Cole Memo’ which helped to shift the legal landscape for the industry.

Friday morning began with an address from keynote speaker Steve Fox of the NCIA on cannabis testing and why it needs to become more efficient.

The University has planned a long-term study of the impact that cannabis has on the adolescent brain.

The University of California Irvine has received a $9 million grant to research the effects of long-term cannabis use on the adolescent brain.

The grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will fund a four-year study at the UCI School of Medicine.

Under these clarified regulations, one may not enjoy a joint and a beer in the same public place.

California regulators have issued an advisory that delineates a clear separation between cannabis and alcohol in the state. The memo from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) on the Cannabis Portal website was published on July 25. The advisory is a list of frequently asked questions received by the ABC, and the department’s responses.