<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Walter Hickey / BI" title_caption="A marijuana growing facility in Colorado." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f76324eab8eab215eebf2c-960/denver-relief-marijuana-growery-tour-15.jpg"></a>Walter Hickey / BIA marijuana growing facility in Colorado.</div></div></div>In late 2010, Derek Peterson was fired from his job as a vice president at Morgan Stanley, where he had been managing a $100 million fund.
But instead of looking for another job on Wall Street, Peterson decided to dive head first into the marijuana industry side project that had gotten him fired in the first place.
Nearly four years later, he says it's working out.
By operating his own dispensary in northern California and selling hydroponic equipment to marijuana growers as CEO of his company Terra Tech, Peterson says he's helping people get a product that actually makes their lives better, a feeling he didn't necessarily have during his time on Wall Street.
"You saw what happened in the meltdown," he tells Business Insider. "I didn't always feel super great about the products I was putting out into the market, but now I do. I happen to be selling something that is federally illegal, but oddly enough, I feel way better about what I'm selling than I did before."
Peterson is one of a growing number of people who have left their high-paying, stable corporate lifestyles to enter the legal marijuana industry - a sector that will bring in an estimated $1.5 billion this year, with potential for even greater riches as states continue to legalize the drug for medicinal and recreational use.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Terra Tech" title_caption="Terra Tech CEO Derek Peterson has raised $7 million in 2014." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f767946bb3f78f37297143-960/derek%20peterson%20terra%20tech.jpg"></a>Terra TechTerra Tech CEO Derek Peterson has raised $7 million in 2014.</div></div>For Peterson, the decision to found GrowOp Technology, which later became Terra Tech after a reverse merger that took the company public in 2012, was based primarily on the massive entrepreneurial opportunity he saw in the industry. In fact, one friend of his was operating a dispensary that was pulling in $18 million a year.
Today, Terra Tech, which sells mobile trailers outfitted with technology to optimize marijuana growing - appropriate lighting, carbon filtration systems, temperature monitoring technology - has about 40 employees and has raised $7 million in 2014, alone.
Meanwhile, the dispensary he owns personally in Northern California sees 900 patients a day.
"We're starting to see some wind at our back at this point," Peterson says, referring to the recent legalization in Colorado and Washington, and the Justice Department's decision not to come after users in those states.
For Katherine Smith, formerly director of social media at Petco, the decision to join the dispensary review site WeedMaps was more about the chance to help people who use the drug medicinally at a historic moment in the push for legalization.
Smith, who became WeedMaps' chief marketing officer in July, says several of her friends were worried she would damage her career by permanently sullying her resume with the residue of a pot job.
But, she says, the issue was too close to her heart to ignore. When Smith was nine, her mother suffered an injury that left her with chronic back pain. Six years ago, she was prescribed medicinal marijuana for the pain, and it has helped her immensely.
"It really changed her quality of life," Smith tells Business Insider. "When I really started looking into medicinal marijuana and what it can do for people with epilepsy and other problems, it's such an amazing opportunity to help push things along."
She pauses.
"Also, recreationally, I think it's awesome."
Indeed, there are plenty of people flocking to the industry simply because they love pot.
Al Olson, who announced earlier this week he was leaving his senior editor job with NBC News to become managing editor of the marijuana news site Marijuana.com, fondly recalls getting into pot in 1973 as a freshman at San Rafael High School in California's North Bay.
Two years prior, a group of San Rafael students began meeting up to smoke pot on campus at 4:20 p.m. every day, creating a ritual that soon became a lynchpin of marijuana culture. 
"It's a dream come true," Olson tells Business Insider.
He fell out of the habit of smoking in his 20s and 30s, but later got back into pot when he found that eating edibles helped him sleep better.
Since 2010, he has been studying the industry intensely in preparation for an opportunity like the one he has received at Marijuana.com, a news site owned by Ghost Group, the venture capital firm that also owns WeedMaps.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Al Olson" title_caption="Marijuana.com managing editor Al Olson." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f7686c69bedddf35297144-960/al-olson-of-marijuanacom.jpg"></a>Al OlsonMarijuana.com managing editor Al Olson.</div></div>At Marijuana.com, he hopes to produce in-depth journalism on marijuana policy and industry players. Presently, the site has about seven staffers, a number Olson hopes to double in the next six to 12 months.
"I'm trying to use the principles we used at NBC News to really bring some rigor and discipline into this journalism that we're trying to do," Olson tells Business Insider. "I don't want to take a side. I just want to go with where the story takes me."
As more states continue to grapple with legalizing marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, it stands to reason that there will only be more openings in the emerging marijuana field in the years to come.
And Smith is hoping those positions will be filled by other people with corporate backgrounds looking to aid the legalization push.
"It's a really important and exciting time in the industry, so I really hope to see more corporate citizens embrace the idea of coming into the marijuana space," Smith says. "It's a great space to be in, and it's really fun. There's a lot of really great people and a lot of opportunity to help advance it."

Why These People Left Their Respectable Corporate Jobs To Work In The Marijuana Industry

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://dnagenetics.com/seeds/kosher-kush">DNA Genetics</a>Kosher Kush</div>Pot magazine High Times held its <a href="http://www.cannabiscup.com/">annual Cannabis Cup</a> this past weekend in Denver. 
The event coincided with the broader "4/20" celebration, which was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/denver-shooting-marijuana-legalization-movement-2013-4">marred to some extent by a shooting</a>.
There's considerable effort put into the development of new, interesting, and potent strains of <keyword id="40905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana">marijuana</keyword>.
The industry is in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/weedmaps-justin-hartfield-entrepreneur-marijuana-legalization-2013-4">a major period of innovation following legitimization last November</a> after ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington made marijuana legal. 
That's why this event was one of the most important events, the first such Cannabis Cup in the post-legalization era.
Here are the winners for U.S. Mixed Flowers: 
First Place: Platinum Girl Scout Cookies by Private Stock LA
The Platinum Girl Scout Cookie is a strain made famous by<a href="https://legalmarijuanadispensary.com/dispensaries/california/san-fernando-santa-clarita/tfj-the-famous-joint-buy-1-get-1-free-all-day-ftp-5g-1-8th-free-gifts-www-thefamousjoint-com-coming-soon"> Berner, a San Francisco rapper.</a>
Here's how one dispensary described the original Girl Scout Cookie <a href="https://legalmarijuanadispensary.com/dispensaries/michigan/detroit/a-detroit-alternative">on their menu on WeedMaps: </a>
Girl Scout Cookies has quickly becoming a west coast favorite, with elegant, yet powerful flavors of sticky cotton candy, earth, fruit and spice all wrapped up into one pungent flavor-combination with a long-lasting almost all-day effect that will leave you lethargic for hours after you "come down" from this fantastic medicinal strain.
Second Place: Chem Tange by La Conte's North
Chem Tange sells for <a href="http://www.lacontescbd.com/smokables.html">up to $250 per ounce</a> <a href="https://legalmarijuanadispensary.com/dispensaries/colorado/denver-central/lacontes-clone-bar-dispensary-central"></a> at La Conte's North in Denver. It <a href="http://www.johndoeradio.com/strain-review/strain-review-tangerine/">incorporates tangerine flavors</a>, but there are not a significant number of reviews available to describe any further attributes.
UPDATE: The grower got back to us and described their victorious entry as follows:
Chem Tange is a 60/40 sativa-dominant hybrid. The unbelievable tangerine smell is almost as incredible as the taste. This strain gives off a wonderful and unique aroma when smoked. The lineage is a Colorado mystery. This cut is worshiped by many Colorado locals and is also known simply as "The Tange". 
Third Place: Kosher Kush by DNA Genetics
According to <a href="http://dnagenetics.com/seeds/kosher-kush">creator DNA Genetics:</a>
 It is a stinky over the top strain with an average yield making all who smoke it feel "blessed". She grows tall so pinching will help tame her as well as beef up the yields. She is easy to grow for the beginner and a challenge to master for the expert. The Kosher can handle moderate to heavy nutrients and has a great bud to leaf ratio making her easy to trim. Kosher Kush will instantly become your favorite smoke. 
Here's how one dispensary described it <a href="https://legalmarijuanadispensary.com/dispensaries/michigan/sw-michigan/the-karmacy">on their menu on WeedMaps: </a>
Great for insomnia leaving you feeling sleepy, pain relief, uplifting effects good for stress or depression, Uplifted Euphoric.
<a href="http://hightimes.com/read/us-cannabis-cup-results-sky-high-denver">Click to see the full list of winners.</a>

The Three Best Kinds Of Marijuana In The Country

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>Justin Hartfield</div>The accelerating legalization of <keyword id="40905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana">marijuana</keyword> has brought about an entirely new, legal industry around the drug. 
Until recently, the marijuana business was solely a black market, fueled by drug traffickers and gangs.
However, as more and more states move to legalize or decriminalize marijuana, several legitimate business enterprises have sprung up with the goal of profiting off of the drug. 
To find out more about the growing legal marijuana industry, we spoke to Justin Hatfield, the entrepreneur behind <a href="http://ghostgroup.com/our-companies/weedmaps/">WeedMaps.com</a>, a juggernaut site that pulls 50,000 unique visitors per day and generates $1.5 million in listing fees alone each month, <a href="http://ghostgroup.com/our-companies/weedmaps/">according to documents put out by the company</a>.
We talked to Hartfield about the current state of the business, the future of pot in America, and the unrealized potential of a marijuana industry in the U.S. 
Business Insider: So what is WeedMaps?
Justin Hartfield: I was a patient in early 2008 and me and my friends wanted to know where the dispensaries were. There was no really good way to find out where they were, their hours, let alone what was on their menu.
WeedMaps is a medical marijuana dispensary finding website. It was founded in 2008 and we help patients connect to each other and let them see menus and pricing for most of their favorite dispensaries.
I was already in the internet business. I had a SEO company, and just for fun I made the site. I had a really cool name “WeedMaps,” and it just started to take off way more than my consulting business did. So eventually I just dropped consulting and started doing WeedMaps full time.
BI: What is it like being a marijuana entrepreneur?
JH: It’s really fun, especially when I get to tell people what I do .
I’m in a little bit of a different position than most people in the marijuana business because i’m only tangentially related. I don’t actually touch the stuff. I at least have one layer of separation, so I can be a little be more free and open telling people exactly what I do, something people who sell marijuana don’t have the same way.
BI: So this is legal?
JH: It’s absolutely legal. How? First Amendment.
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>AP</div>BI: As a result of your business, you’re now on the board of a number of groups, including NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). Tell us a little more about your advocacy work. 
JH: I’m also on the board of Marijuana Policy Project as well as National Cannabis Industry Association, so I’m very busy on boards. What I do exactly I still haven’t figured that out yet.
I’ve always been especially interested in ending the drug war. It’s always something I thought was wrong on a number of levels. Ending the prohibition on marijuana would just make so much sense. I think organizations like NORML and MPP are doing amazing work changing not only the cultural perception but also the laws, what we’ve seen in Colorado and Washington in November.
BI: In November, Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana on the state level. How has this changed the outlook for legal marijuana in the U.S.?
JH: I think it changes everything. Monetarily there hasn’t been an impact yet, but obviously the laws still need to be implemented. They will be on the first of January 2014. 
I think what it’s doing now is it’s bringing really professional investors and players into the space that I haven’t seen before. I’ve been doing this since 2008, the level of the business actors hasn’t always been the “highest.”
But now, I’m beginning to see some really serious, sincere, business people — with credentials, with backgrounds — starting to get more interested and involved in the industry. That’s always a great thing to see because that’s going to make the pie bigger, make the industry grow and mature and become more accepted.
It’s people with experience and backgrounds — 10, 15, 25 years — in industry bringing that level of professionalism, their technology, the discourse itself has been very powerful. I think there are starting to be a lot more impressive business opportunities emerging from this growing acceptance, especially in the kind of tangentially related industries like paraphernalia and electronics — vaporizing pens, vaporizers in general, even storage devices,
You name it, there’s this incredible amount of technology that’s being applied. It’s been in the closet so long, it’s been a contraband industry so long . These professional people and this kind of high technology hasn’t been applied to the industry yet, and we’re finally seeing it emerge. It’s becoming evident everywhere.
BI: What’s the future for pot in America, looking at the next three to five years?
JH: I think we’re looking at a few more states adding medical, then in 2016 there’s going to be the next big push. It’s a presidential election, they’re expecting a lot of younger folks to vote. When young folks come out to vote, they typically vote for legalization.
I expect [Progressive Insurance chairman and <keyword id="1739136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana-Legalization">marijuana legalization</keyword> advocate] Peter Lewis and his group to have something on the ballot in California, and then hopefully a few other states.
BI: How about New York?
JH: Medical [marijuana legalization] in New York looks very promising. They’re pushing stuff up in Albany now. This bill that they’re pushing right now is very restrictive form a commercial standpoint and also in terms of just a medical standpoint. They’re not allowing doctors to recommend marijuana, they’re trying to control what diseases marijuana can be used for and in that kind of system it just limits the market. It’s going to be very heavily regulated there but I think in 2016 there could be possibility of a legalization bill there too. I know [The Drug Policy Alliance] is working really hard in New York.
BI: What about long term? Has marijuana already won?
JH: I think the culture war is over, as Allen St. Pierre [Executive Director of NORML] likes to point out. Culturally, there’s no doubt about it that my generation and the generation that’s older than me, they’ve come to accept this should be regulated like alcohol.
So for long term? I see federal legalization on the horizon within the next ten to twelve years. Hopefully sooner. Hopefully it’s tomorrow. It’s kind of ridiculous the federal government is even considering not letting the states move forward with this experiment, but regardless, I think the long term prospects for the marijuana industry are really good, probably comparable to the wine industry, probably a lot bigger.
<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div>Galileo55 via FlickrNapa Valley</td></tr></table>BI: The wine industry? Most people seem associate the future of pot with the tobacco industry. 
JH: Everyone always compares it to tobacco, I think that tobacco is $35 billion depending on who you ask, the wine market is a little bit less than that. I think the recreational market is going to be very similar to the wine market with an extra added huge market for medical; because there are a lot of patients that need to have a guaranteed medical product.
BI: Wine has independent producers, whereas tobacco is heavily consolidated.
JH: Exactly. The wine business is going to be a closer model of what the legal cannabis market will be eventually. If California really does legalization right — either through [California Lieutenant governor and presumed 2014 gubernatorial candidate] Gavin Newsom, the legislature or in 2016 — if they really do it right they’ll specify zones like the Emerald Triangle or Humboldt County that are special, just like they do with Napa Valley or Sonoma.
When you have a product that’s comes of these areas it’s allowed to have stamps of approval — “the Humboldt stamp of approval” — and I think this is going to revitalize a lot of local industry there and create a whole cottage industry — like Sonoma has with the French model — by designating special areas. 
BI: You have another business, Cannabinoid Science Systems. What’s with that?
JH: Cannabinoid SS is a research company that develops and applies for patents for cannabis intellectual property, medical and recreational. We’ve got a lot of really cool stuff. We’ve done so much research on cannabis. We know so much about the plant and extracting things from the plant. We know so much about processing and post-processing that we may as well get these patents so when it does become legal federally we have them. 
BI: What needs to happen now?
JH: I want to commend Colorado for passing Amendment 64, and ensure that the four congressmen do the right thing and pass a bill that’s not only timely but also fair to the local businesses and people in the community. There’s a world spotlight on Colorado and Denver. If they get this right, if they really find a good way to regulate marijuana I think the whole world will benefit.

Meet Justin Hartfield, The Entrepreneur Who Wants To Be America's First Marijuana Industrialist

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>AP</div>This weekend was 4/20, which is basically Christmas for users of <keyword id="40905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana">marijuana</keyword>.
The largest celebration took place in Denver, where a massive pot convention — including the Cannabis Cup contest — was<a href="http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/04/22/image-shows-suspect-in-civic-center-park-420-shooting/"> interrupted by a shooting that wounded two and sent shock waves through the marijuana movement</a>.
Remember that Colorado recently voted to legalize marijuana.
Barry Bard, an editor for <a href="http://www.weedmaps.com">WeedMaps.com</a> – a startup that is among the first to capitalize on legalized and medical marijuana — spoke to us about the event. The WeedMaps team was at the Exdo Center, where the Cannabis Cup was being held. At the same time, they had a separate camera crew near the Civic Center. Here's what they heard:
"I was told it was like a wave of people rushing around after 5 shots were heard," Bard said in an email to Business Insider. "It was gang related and a 19 year old, I believe.
So while the shooting wasn't related to marijuana, the main event, or Denver's legalization of pot, it still will have significant downsides for the pro-pot movement. 
As we've argued, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/weedmaps-justin-hartfield-entrepreneur-marijuana-legalization-2013-4">the future success of marijuana in the United States</a> is predicated on the success of the dual experiments going on in Colorado — specifically Denver — and Washington. 
Attorney General Eric Holder is the man with the ability to either turn a blind eye or systematically crush the attempt to legalize marijuana in the states. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/holder-marijuanas-effect-children-factor-195708801--politics.html">During an Appropriations Committee hearing last week</a>, Holder said that the Justice Department response would depend on "the impact on children" and violence related to organized crime. 
Needless to say, a gang-related shooting in the vicinity of a major marijuana event can be construed as somewhat provocative for the Justice Department, even if the gunshots were altogether unrelated to the core ideas behind legalization. 
Here's how Bard summed up the major downside for the drug reform movement from this shooting: 
The shooting is obviously a blight on the movement, even though it was gang related and had nothing to do with cannabis whatsoever. It will be used by the mainstream media and opponents of legalization as ammo to perpetuate prohibition and negate the benefits of marijuana. It now makes our job as part of the movement to spread awareness and truth even more vital to the long term goal. One bad seed certainly shouldn't spoil what is generally a very peaceful and genial movement, but we'll see what its immediate impact is. I'd be shocked if Denver allows the Civic Center smokeout to occur again, though, that's for sure, and other rallies nationwide of its ilk may be affected. But who knows how opponents of legalization will spin it.
Ethan Nadelmann, the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, had this to say about the shooting:
What can one say? Shootings are bad. DPA opposes all forms of violence. One significant benefit of legalizing marijuana, as with repealing alcohol Prohibition [eighty] years ago, is taking the market out of the hands of those who might be more inclined to use violence to steal, extort or resolve disputes in the marijuana industry.
Is it the end of the world for marijuana reform? Probably not. But the pot legalization crowd really needs this to be a single, unrelated and unrepeated incident. 
The success of legal marijuana in America is predicated on the success of two experiments. If one of those experiments begins to go wrong — and if this sort of violence isn't isolated — then it's quite bad. 
Still, all evidence seems to point to the contrary here — a single isolated event that happened to take place in proximity of a major marijuana convention — so don't expect a crackdown or a slowdown any time soon.

Was This Past Weekend In Denver A Catastrophe For The Legal Marijuana Movement?

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">IAB</div></div>Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:
The Interactive <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">Advertising</keyword> Bureau announced that <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2014/04/10/internet-ad-revenues-iab/">marketers spent $42.8 billion on U.S. online advertising in 2013</a>, surpassing the $40.1 billion they spent on network television. This number does not include what they spent on cable television. Additionally, mobile spending grew 110% to $7.1 billion.
In new U.S. marketing head Jorn Socquet's first big move, A-B InBev <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/translation-loses-bud-light-platinum-bbdo/292583/">is moving its Bud Light Platinum account</a> from Translation to BBDO, just 10 months after BBDO won the regular Bud Light account from Translation. The Bud Light Platinum account also includes other Bud Light extensions like Bud Light Lime.
CBS is refusing to let WeedMaps, an online service best described as "Yelp for pot dispensaries," advertise with a billboard in Times Square. Digiday's John McDermott <a href="http://digiday.com/platforms/weedmaps-cbs-ad-times-square/">has the story</a>, along with a pretty excellent headline and opening sentence.
The watch brand Citizen has tapped Wieden+Kennedy as its global brand agency. The work will be led by W+K's Tokyo office, with W+K Amsterdam pitching in, as well.
Women-focused online media network PopSugar <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/popsugar-launches-full-service-unit-bakery-156892">launched a full-service advertising agency</a> called The Bakery to help advertisers reach the 18- to 39-year-old female demographic.
Carisa Bianchi is leaving TBWA\Chiat\Day <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/luis-deanda-named-president-tbwa-chiat-day-los-angeles/292604/">after more than 24 years with the agency</a>. Twelve-year TBWA vet Luis DeAnda will replace Bianchi as president of TBWA's Los Angeles office.
Viacom <a href="http://adage.com/article/media/viacom-set-social-media-guarantees/292571/">is moving to offer advertisers social media guarantees</a> via a partnership with social analytics firm Mass Relevance that will promise brands they can reach a certain number of people via social media when they make a purchase across Viacom's social channels. 
Saatchi &amp; Saatchi <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/jay-benjamin-fills-top-creative-job-saatchi-new-york-156930">named Jay Benjamin to the chief creative officer post</a> for its New York office. Benjamin comes from Leo Burnett's New York office, where he held the same role. 
Previously on Business Insider Advertising:
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<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/julia-louis-dreyfus-rolling-stone-cover-constitution-2014-4">Rolling Stone Explains The Major Historical Inaccuracy On Its Julia Louis-Dreyfus Cover</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/thai-life-tearjerker-ad-2014-4">All Of Thailand Is Compulsively Weeping Over This One Life Insurance Ad</a></li>
</ul>

Advertisers Are Now Spending More Money On Digital Than Broadcast TV [THE BRIEF]

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:
Ad Age reports that Instagram <a href="http://adage.com/article/digital/monthly-cost-instagram-ad-campaign-approach-1m/292441/">is seeking ad buys</a> that could cost nearly $1 million for a month-long campaign. The company previously struck a year-long deal with Publicis Omnicom Group worth up to $100 million in ad buys.
Weedmaps, a startup that is basically Yelp but for marijuana reviews, now has a billboard in Times Square. The site, which allows people to review different strains and dispensaries, <a href="https://weedmaps.com/nyc/">is betting on New York's future legalization of the drug</a> with a 26-by-20 foot billboard that introduces the site to the New York community with a little bit of word-play. It can be seen on the CBS Super Screen on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Apparently President Barack Obama <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/president-obama-didnt-know-used-by-samsung-2014-4">did not know</a> the selfie he took with baseball star David Ortiz would be used to promote the Samsung phone it was taken on.
PetSmart <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/omd-wins-petsmart-media-business-156702">tapped OMD Chicago as its media planning and buying agency</a>. The pet store chain spends about $90 million measured media each year, according to Adweek.
ShareThis is expanding overseas through a partnership with AD2ONE that will allow it to bring audience building and data solutions to brands in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.
Arnold chief digital officer Matt Howell <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/howell-arnold-parting-ways_b63411">is leaving the agency</a>. He joined Arnold three years ago as managing partner/global chief digital officer.
MediaMath appointed Dave Reed its managing director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, a new position at the firm. Reed has been with the company for six years.
Translation is closing its Chicago office, <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/translation-to-close-its-chicago-office_b63424">AgencySpy reports</a>.
Previously on Business Insider <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">Advertising</keyword>:
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<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/president-obama-didnt-know-used-by-samsung-2014-4">President Obama Didn't Know He Was Being Used By Samsung</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nicole-kidman-in-jimmy-choo-photoshop-mess-2014-4">Nicole Kidman Is Barely Recognizable In This Heavily Photoshopped Jimmy Choo Ad</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ad-shows-what-makeup-really-can-do-2014-4">Powerful Ad Shows What Makeup Really Can Do</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rubicon-ipo-first-day-2014-4">Rubicon IPO Explodes Upwards - Here's Why</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-busey-stars-in-amazon-fire-tv-ad-2014-4">Amazon's First Ad For The Fire TV Features Gary Busey... And It's Super Weird</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/get-taxi-monkey-april-fools-2014-4">Black Car Startup Gett's Genius April Fools' Marketing Ploy Makes Me Never Want To Use Uber Again</a></li>
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Instagram Is Charging $1 Million For Ads [THE BRIEF]

<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image">Mike Nudelman / BI</div></div>
In Denver, Colorado, something is happening that has not occurred on U.S. soil for decades. 
A hot commodity that many people love is completing the transition from a black market to a medicalized market to a fully legal market, something unseen in the United States since the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. 
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image">Mike Nudelman / BI</div></div>
<a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/10-facts-about-marijuana">Forty-two percent</a> of Americans have used it. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sanjay-gupta-changed-his-mind-on-weed-2013-8http://www.businessinsider.com/sanjay-gupta-changed-his-mind-on-weed-2013-8">Prominent doctors</a> are enthusiastically endorsing it. The substance is <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/marijuana/sources#frequency">not chemically addictive</a> and has <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/medical-marijuana">demonstrated medical uses.</a> 
Plus, smoking it is considered quite fun by enthusiasts. 
We're talking of course about Cannabis.
Media coverage of the <keyword id="40905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana">marijuana</keyword> business and legalization effort has relied on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/06/travel/marijuana-tourism-seattle#cnn">lame puns,</a> <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/08/chris_simms_marijuana_denial_i.html#magazine">tired</a> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324425204578599533951774140.html">jokes,</a> or totally modern references to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/2741-204_162-664.html#cbs">a 1936 film about marijuana</a>. Stories are typically accompanied by a picture of <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/bizarre&amp;id=9075936">a person smoking the largest joint you've ever seen</a>. 
But let's get down to brass tacks. 
<div class="image-container float_left" style="width:480px"><div class="image">Walter Hickey / BI</div></div>
In Colorado, the market for direct sales of cannabis is <a href="https://webcom.colostate.edu/coloradofutures/files/2013/04/CFC-Amendment-64-Study-final2.pdf">estimated to be approximately $600 million</a> in the first year of legalization.
That doesn't factor in the booming sector of business services — security, software, capital investment, advertising — working on the sidelines and catering to the people directly involved in selling marijuana. 
In essence, the levity that tinges the coverage of marijuana makes people forget that this is a huge market. Colorado anticipates a <a href="https://webcom.colostate.edu/coloradofutures/files/2013/04/CFC-Amendment-64-Study-final2.pdf">$130.1 million increases to state revenue</a> because of <keyword id="1739136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana-Legalization">marijuana legalization</keyword>, which is nothing to smirk at. 
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image">WalterMe.</div></div>I flew out to Colorado a few weeks ago to see what it's like to build an industry from the ground up.
I talked to the the entrepreneurs who are defining what a well-regulated legal marijuana market can achieve.
I talked to the activists and lobbyists who were there every step of the way to legalization.
I spoke with startups and established brands, with businesses that have attracted the attention of Wall Street as well as those that handle marijuana on a daily basis. 
To see an emerging market up close and in action, you no longer have to fly to a BRIC country. All you really need is a ticket to Denver. 
Over the next several days, we'll take you on tours of the facilities growing and selling marijuana. We'll show you how state-of-the-art scientific techniques are being used to analyze the marijuana on the market on a scientific level. 
<div class="image-container float_left" style="width:480px"><div class="image">Walter Hickey / BIWater pipe production at Heady Glass</div></div>
We'll have interviews with entrepreneurs who are making marijuana possible, like Canna Security, the security company that make the industry safe, or Weedmaps, the internet startup that plans to be the ESPN of pot. 
We'll also look back and see how marijuana became legal in Colorado — a shining example of involved democracy that should make you proud to be an American — and were the people working on it see marijuana coming next. 
I spoke to attorneys who left cushy corporate jobs to become the legal resource that an industry in this growth phase desperately needs, and agriculture specialists who view growing the best marijuana on the market as their next big goal. 
We'll also look into some of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs in the Colorado marijuana industry – production issues, banking restrictions, how exactly people who sell marijuana for a living pay taxes. 
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image">Walter Hickey / BI</div></div>We'll also talk about the marijuana that the entrepreneurs smoke, how they name it, and how to get a job in the business.
We'll also talk about the heartbreaking stories of marijuana patients, and the generous philanthropy the kings of Denver marijuana organize.
What's happening in Denver is something very special, something that we're not going to see again in a long time.
Entrepreneurs built an industry from noting, dragging it from illegitimacy to the point that it's easier to buy cannabis than Sudafed.
What comes next after legalization is something this country hasn't seen in generations. Colorado, for the first time <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike's_Peak_Gold_Rush">in 150 years</a>, is about to have a gold rush. Let's see how they're preparing for it.

There's A Huge Emerging Market And A Hot New Commodity Right In The Center Of The United States

<keyword id="40905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana">Marijuana</keyword> has enjoyed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/war-on-drugs-marijuana-legalization-2013-4">considerable political success</a> recently.
In November, Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana use, and since then multiple states have begun to look at decriminalization and legalization efforts with momentum that the movement has never seen before. 
While the movement to reform <keyword id="341436" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Drug-Policy">drug policy</keyword> is comprised of thousands of activists and donors, several individuals have been leading the fight to pass new laws and ballot initiatives that legalize pot. 
We spoke to several people in the reform movement, and these five individuals came up as some of the most influential in the marijuana reform movement: 
 <div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lEC7wvQsoY">Youtube</a></div></div></div>1. Allen St. Pierre
St. Pierre is the executive director of the <a href="http://norml.org/">National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)</a>, the oldest and largest advocacy group working to legalize marijuana in the U.S. 
Under St. Pierre, NORML has become <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marijuanas-top-lobbyist-told-us-why-there-will-be-several-viable-legalization-bills-next-year-in-congress-2012-11">the leading lobbying group for marijuana legalization</a>, decriminalization and medical use. 
NORML under St. Pierre is also a major messaging arm for reformers, serving as an information clearinghouse for media and another prospective for policymakers. Currently, NORML is working with forces on the hill to develop federal <keyword id="1739136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana-Legalization">marijuana legalization</keyword>.
NORML's foundation arm also provides legal support to some people charged with marijuana crimes and undertakes relevant research initiatives.
 
<div class="image-container float_left" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a href="https://twitter.com/ethannadelmann">Twitter</a></div></div>2. Ethan Nadelmann
Nadelmann is the founder and executive director of <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/staff-and-board/staff/ethan-nadelmann-executive-director">the Drug Policy Alliance.</a> 
DPA serves as one of the clearinghouses for marijuana <keyword id="28351" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="policy">policy</keyword> in the U.S. <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/our-work">They work extensively</a> to push legislation that decriminalizes marijuana offenses at the state level, and also provide grants to smaller, local organizations.
DPA and their electoral arm, Drug Policy Action, were <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/our-victories">behind the November 2012 ballot initiatives</a> in Colorado and Washington that legalized marijuana in those states. Nadelmann's group also helped fund-raise and build political support for the ballot initiatives. 
St. Pierre, director of NORML, called Nadelmann "the most dialed-in drug policy reform advocate in the country." 
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.arizonamedicalmarijuanablog.com/2012/02/08/arizona-medicall-marijuana-blog-peter-lewis-progressive-corp/">Arizona Medical Marijuana Blog</a></div></div>3. Peter B. Lewis
Lewis is the former chairman and CEO of Progressive Insurance. 
With a net worth of <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-lewis/gallery/2">roughly $1.2 billion,</a> Lewis is a prominent philanthropist, and a top financial backer of the drug reform movement in the U.S. One prominent advocate estimates that he has given roughly $40 million to the cause since 1996. 
One recent contribution to the Brookings Institute enabled the organization to fund <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/events/2013/04/15-marijuana-legalization">a new 18-24 month serial review of marijuana law</a> and alternative policies, a project that has huge potential for marijuana reform advocacy. 
 <div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image">Justin Hartfield</div></div>4. Justin Ross Hartfield
Hartfield is one of the new breed of "ganjapreneurs" who are bringing legitimate business sensibilities to the newly-legal marijuana market. 
<a href="http://about.me/justinhartfield">A 28-year old serial entrepreneur,</a> Hartfield and his partner Doug Francis run Ghost Group, a venture capital fund with holdings in several businesses that Hartfield started, including <a href="http://ghostgroup.com/our-companies/weedmaps/">Weedmaps</a> — a site with revenues of $1.5 million per month already — as well as <a href="http://ghostgroup.com/our-companies/cannabinoid/">Cannabinoid Science Systems,</a> a research firm that develops marijuana products. 
Because his businesses don't require him to actually come in contact with the drug, Hartfield is able to make a fortune off of marijuana reform without running afoul of federal law. He also sits on the <a href="http://norml.org/about/item/justin-hartfield">boards of NORML</a> and the Marijuana Policy Project. 
 <div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/98164-wa-alison-holcomb-23710/aboutme.html">Avvo</a></div></div>5. Alison Holcomb 
As <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alison-holcomb/5a/6aa/534">the campaign director</a> of New Approach Washington, Holcomb led the political action committee behind the successful passage of State Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana in the state of Washington.
She managed to <a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-09-26/news/alison-holcomb-pot-mama/">raise $3 million for the initiative</a> — much of it provided by Peter Lewis — which dwarfed the opposition's spending. 
Holcomb has worked for years on marijuana law through the <a href="http://www.aclu-wa.org/">ACLU Washington</a>, and currently serves as the Drug Policy Director there. Prior to running New Approach Washington, she extensively lobbied the Washington legislature about <a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-09-26/news/alison-holcomb-pot-mama/">reforming their medical marijuana policy</a>. She recently flew to Uruguay to consult with officials about marijuana legalization there.
Following her win in Washington, there has been speculation that Holcomb may <a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2013/02/19/alison-holcomb-for-mayor/">make a run for mayor or city council</a> in Seattle. 
Holcomb is unique in the movement in that she claims to <a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-09-26/news/alison-holcomb-pot-mama/">have not used marijuana personally.</a>

Five People Who Are Leading The Fight To Legalize Marijuana

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">AP Photo/Elaine ThompsonDaniel Curylo, 41, has invested $400,000 in a cannabis business park northwest of Olympia, WA that would feature his growing operation, Cascade Crops, as well as retail stores run by his mother, father and aunt.</div></div>When Washington state first legalized marijuana in 2012, some people expected a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/washingtons-legal-marijuana-industry-photos-2014-1">deluge of entrepreneurs to rush in</a> to take over a wide-open industry.
As legalization takes effect, new pot businesses are indeed starting to flourish in Washington. But entrepreneurs have to overcome some big challenges if they want to cash in on the "Green Rush."
Hilary Bricken, a founder of <a href="http://www.cannabislawseattle.com/">the Canna Law Group</a>, has guided some of these folks through the thicket of regulations that entangle businesses selling a product that the federal government says is illegal.
Bricken told Business Insider in a recent interview that the legal marijuana industry is uniquely open to small businesses - provided they can operate on a cash-only basis. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/us/banks-say-no-to-marijuana-money-legal-or-not.html">Banks typically don't deal with marijuana businesses</a>, even in states where it's legal, because they fear retaliation from the federal government. Consequently, these businesses often can't take checks or credit cards like other businesses.
Pot shops also get a raw deal from the IRS, which says <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_of_illegal_income_in_the_United_States">they have to pay taxes</a> but can't deduct most expenses because they're selling something that's "illegal." Despite the difficult situation, Bricken thinks the reward could be worth the risk.
Here's what Bricken had to say about the industry:
BI: Have you seen a marked increase in businesses as legalization gets closer?
HB: That is a resoundingly, large yes … It has increased exponentially. Four years ago, we had 50 regular clients. Now, we have over 200.
BI: Will the industry be made up of small or large businesses?<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left" style="width:380px"><div class="image">Courtesy Of Hilary BrickenHilary Bricken, of the Canna <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Law">Law</keyword> Group.</div></div>
HB: On the whole, mostly garage startups [such as growers, processors, retailers, software providers, and supporting businesses]. The maximum size you will see is middle-tier. You are not going to see R.J. Reynolds Tobacco or Philip Morris jump in yet. So long as marijuana remains a federal crime, it's not a big enough target for them. The industry is not lucrative enough.
When you are answering to investors and you invest in a federal crime, it is very likely you will see a lawsuit at the end of the day against the board of directors. It's a potentially massive loss of investment if you make yourself a big enough target.
Smaller business owners have a unique opportunity to proliferate in this cottage industry, develop their brand, and then when the federal prohibition falls - which I'm confident it will - position themselves for a huge acquisition. At the heart of it, Philip Morris doesn't know how to grow pot. When the time comes, they will buy out the farmer. That is realizable in the future [if the federal government legalizes pot]. 
BI: What legal issues are the businesses you work with having?
HB: On the state level, the businesses have been told to go forth and be real businesses and bring in tax revenue, but the state hasn't equipped the businesses with all the tools to accomplish that because of the federal prohibition [on marijuana]. Businesses cannot bank or gain financing through a federally chartered entity, and it's very difficult for them to pay taxes. There is a provision in the federal tax code that says illegal businesses are still taxable and they can't take deductions. That's crippling for businesses.
BI: Do you think the money politicians promised - the state estimated $600 million annually in tax revenue- is going to materialize?
HB: The money that people are expecting to come out of this will materialize at a very regular rate. The problem is accommodating those funds and allowing those businesses to perform. Do I think Washington is going to net billions of revenue in the first two years? No. 
The revenue will be realized, but if the state wants it to be as robust as it can be, they need to push the federal government for tax reform and federal banking laws. 
If these businesses cannot maintain bank accounts, their full performance will never be realized. Although we have seen entrepreneurs successfully operate on an all-cash basis, it's wildly inconvenient and expensive. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">AP Photo/Ted S. WarrenSteve Smith, 29, has worked as security for multiple dispensaries in Washington and is now applying to open a retail marijuana shop in Tacoma. Because dispensaries are cash-only, they must hire security to protect their goods and cash.</div></div></div>
BI: Does the lack of legitimate banking and tax codes have a chilling effect on investment?
HB: Yes, there is a chilling effect. Locals are, for the most part, the only ones turned on by the prospect [of investing in marijuana], because they've watched how the federal government has behaved in the state of Washington.
In Washington, we have a political topography, as well as a geographic. There are two different U.S. attorneys, one in eastern Washington and one in western Washington. [These lawyers work for the federal government, which prohibits pot.]
The attorney for the West is located in Seattle and is very liberal and very relaxed when it comes to enforcement. The one in the East is located in Spokane. The Eastern part of the state is a red state and, because of that, the attorney is very conservative and vigilant with enforcement.
An investor in Spokane is probably going to be less enthusiastic than an investor in Seattle. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image">AP Photo/Elaine ThompsonMarla Molly Poiset, 59. a Le Cordon Bleu-trained French pastry chef, has been developing recipes for marijuana-infused chocolate truffles and pastries for recreational and medical use. She is one of many small business owners that could hit it big in Washington's marijuana economy.</div></div></div>
BI: What are some of the more interesting businesses you've worked with?
HB: The run-of-the-mill client is producer, processor, or retailer. One of the more interesting companies I'm working with is creating a medicated patch, like a nicotine patch for marijuana. Clever companies that find new ways to use marijuana are the most interesting to me. With marijuana, you are seeing all kinds of vehicles for how it will be getting used.`I think those are the companies that are going to do really well. 
Auxiliary businesses, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/weedmaps-justin-hartfield-entrepreneur-marijuana-legalization-2013-4">like WeedMaps (Yelp for dispensaries)</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/leafly-marijuana-2013-9?op=1">Leafly (WebMD + Yelp for marijuana)</a> will do really well also. They are taking over that grey area gap, where they are facilitating marijuana exploration but not committing a federal crime. 
BI: Will there be a Budweiser of pot?
HB: Not in the first two years, because of the way our rules are written. Our state is trying to keep it small. Once the rules are relaxed and full-blown lobbying takes place in a realistic way, you could see a Budweiser of pot trot out.

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