It's been in the works for more than a year, but a proposed "cannabis campus" is taking shape now that the principals have closed escrow on the former South Yuba Club property in Nevada City.

The two buildings in the 500 block of Searls Avenue, which have been vacant since the health club facility closed in November 2017, will house up to six businesses and will join Elevation 2477', the county's first medical marijuana dispensary, to flesh out a "cutting-edge multi-tenant cannabis campus," said project manager Maria Herrera.

One step into the annual Marijuana Business Conference in Las Vegas and the massive growth of the industry is evident.

Small booths that used to squeeze into the Rio as recently as 2016 have tripled in size, offering CES-style presentations at the conference’s new home, the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Many of last year’s first-time show attendees are now among the record 1,100 exhibitors from 60 countries, having found their business niche in the exploding international market.

The convention, which just two years ago welcomed 10,000 industry members from across the world, is boasting more than 25,000 attendees this week. The three-day convention began Wednesday and concluded Friday.

The only cannabis dispensary in Nevada County could be switching from medical-only to adult-use sales by the beginning of next year.

Months of emotional debate had marked Nevada City's decision last year to allow for the establishment, permitting and regulation of medical-only cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, distributing and testing laboratory businesses.

The city awarded its only dispensary permit to Elevation 2477' in February. But after the dispensary opened in August, its owners found they were turning away two-thirds of their potential customers because they did not have a medical marijuana recommendation. Dispensary co-owner Daniel Batchelor told the city council he estimated the city was losing $100,000 in tax revenue.

The cannabis world is currently in the middle of what has become one of the largest and most important industry events: MJBizCon.

Hosted in Las Vegas, the annual conference and trade show has seen explosive growth in recent years. So much so that the city of Las Vegas has just announced plans to extend the event. Beginning next year, the three-day expo will become a weeklong cannabis event.

Las Vegas is the center of the cannabis industry this week.  The marijuana Industry Conference is at the Las Vegas Convention Center through Friday, and the gathering of attendees so far has been record-setting.

A total of 30,000 vendors, business owners, and investors flocked to the convention to see what will be big in 2019. "I spend a lot of time in D.C. and I can tell you the tide has turned," said Brady Cobb, the CEO of Sol Global Investments.

Cobb's firm just made a nine-figure investment to get into the medical marijuana industry in Florida. He said their investment was a no-brainer.

Nevada has broken another record for marijuana sales. The Nevada Department of Taxation reported on Wednesday that in August, the state collected $8.1 million in taxes alone from cannabis sales. That’s $3.2 million more than the same time last year.

August 2018 was the largest month of combined marijuana tax revenue to date in Nevada, the agency said. Marijuana tax collection alone for 2019 is expected to be nearly $70 million.

On Tuesday, Green Thumb Industries Inc. (GTI) finalized a deal to acquire 100 percent of Integral Associates, Nevada’s top cannabis company. The move marks a major expansion for the Chicago and Vancouver-based GTI. Integral will bring onboard its operational capacity, distribution and, crucially, its significant retail footprint in Nevada. The total value of the transaction is approximately $290 million. $52 million will go to Integrated Associates in cash along with 20.8 million Subordinate Voting Shares of GTI.

If you have a layover in Denver, 420 Airport Pickupwill take you to a marijuana dispensary, a place to get high and on a scenic tour before dropping you back off at Denver International Airport. 

Or there's the art studio where you can smoke pot while painting with acrylics; Kush and Canvases also offers a class on rolling sushi – and joints. On a Budz and Sudz tour, you can visit both craft breweries and a marijuana growing operation in Denver, riding a tour bus stocked with snacks. 

Hospitality industry leaders expressed mixed feelings about the prospect of marijuana lounges in Las Vegas, which on one hand would give guests a place legally consume and on the other compete with resorts for tourist dollars.

A panel including Andrew Pearl, general counsel and chief compliance officer for the Cosmopolitan, Melissa Kuipers Blake, a shareholder at Denver law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and Melissa Waite, a member of the Dickinson Wright law firm in Las Vegas, discussed the issue Friday at a marijuana symposium at UNLV.

Planet 13 Holdings Inc. (CSE: PLTH) ("Planet 13" or the "Company"), a leading vertically-integrated Nevada cannabis company announced today the official groundbreaking at its Planet 13 Superstore. Anticipated to be among the world's largest cannabis dispensaries, Planet 13 Superstore will offer visitors from around the globe a unique experience when the destination opens in November 2018. Planet 13 Superstore will be located at 2548 W. Desert Inn Rd., only a few steps away from the famed Las Vegas Strip.