Marie expects marijuana will be legal nationally by 2020, and says businesses should prepare for the inevitable, given the direction of public opinion polling. She is a Hobart native who moved to Colorado and lived there when marijuana was legalized.

"It impacted every business in the state," she said. "They needed to get new insurance, new liability insurance. It was hard for these companies to find insurance that wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg."

The cannabis industry grew rapidly in Colorado and it creates many opportunities, but companies need to make sure they have adequate capital and revenue streams, Marie said. Entrepreneurs can start dispensaries or glassblowing companies, and such business will create new jobs like budtenders and growers, she said. The cannabis industry also will need ancillary support, such as from accountants, IT firms, packagers and others.

The conference will cost $50, and limited seating is available. Marie hopes to stage similar workshops across the state every few months if there's strong enough interest.

For more information, or to sponsor the event, call (720) 486-4356 or find Indiana Cannabis Networking on Facebook.

To register, go to https://the-kingery-group.ticketleap.com/indiana-cannabusiness-workshop/dates/Mar-05-2016_at_1000AM.

*This story has been corrected from an earlier version.

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