The Green Rush, like The Gold Rush before it, is spawning not only direct jobs, but also secondary support industries.

The Gold Rush began in 1799 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, at what is today called Reed’s Gold Mine. It then expanded into Georgia in 1829, and was followed in 1849 when James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found the shiny metal at a lumber mill he was building for Sutter on the American River. It setoff the largest migration at the time, with 157,000 people in the California territory; 150,000 Native Americans, 6,500 of Spanish or Mexican descent — known as Californios — , and fewer than 800 non-native Americans. 1849 was the year that over 300,000 joined the Gold Rush, hense known as the ‘49’ers, with the intensive search peaking around 1855.

In 848 gold was also found by Russian explorers in the Kenai River, but mining didn’t begin until 1870 southeast of Juneau, Alaska. Later in August 1896, gold was discovered in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory by Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie and George Washington Carmack. It set off one of the greatest gold rushes in history.

What few talk about though, was the secondary markets that the Gold Rush ignited. Patent №139.121 was, issued to Levi Strauss & Co. and J.W. Davis on May 20, 1873 for what became known today as blue jeans.

THE IMPACT OF THE GOLD RUSH

According to Norwich University,

“The California Gold Rush of 1849–1855 radically transformed California, the United States and the world. It prompted one of the largest migrations in U.S. history, with hundreds of thousands of migrants across the United States and the globe coming to California to find gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This led to the establishment of boomtowns, rapid economic growth and prosperity, as well as the building of railroads, churches and banks to accommodate the newcomers. The significant increase in population and infrastructure allowed California to qualify for statehood in 1850, only a few years after it was ceded by Mexico, and facilitated U.S. expansion to the American West.”

Cannabis prohibition began in the united States in the late 1930s. Oregon was the first to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization in 1973, but it would be another 20+ years before cannabis became legal; it first was legalized in 1996 in California (for medical marijuana). That was followed another 20 years later. Colorado and Washington State legalize recreational marijuana in 2012.

Since then legislation has swept across the U.S. to 29 states by 2018, and the Green Rush had officially began.

Like the Gold Rush, the Green Rush too is stimulating the economy, generating millions in tax revenue, and spawning secondary cottage industries.

For example, there are companies that now make modular cultivation units, that are customizable, with optimal environmental controls for cultivation. Farm space can be hard to aquire, and/or not have the correct conditions. These units solve that problem.

When I reached out to speak with Bill Moore, the CEO of CubeIT Technologies LLC, (a subsidiary of CubeIT Holdings, Inc.), he told me that

“The CubeIT Modular Unit provides our clients with a cost-effective, code-compliant, fully-scalable turnkey solution for launching or expanding their operations during all phases of the cultivation process — all packaged up in modular slabs ready to be assembled on any outdoor or indoor premise.”

These units are impressive in their consistent control over the elements, including air, water, and temperature.

While Cannabis is now a legal product, it is subject to regulations to ensure purity and consumer safety, no different than food or medical products that are subject to the rigorous compliance protocols put forth by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

In 2015. Todd Denkin saw the sweeping legalization of cannabis . With vision and clarity he formed a Digipath, Inc., (publicly-traded under the symbol (OTCQB) DIGP) and its subsidiary Digipath Labs., where he serves as CEO. The company is now one of the leading cannabis testing laboratories in Nevada, based in Las Vegas.

According to Mr. Denkin during an interview with New Theory Magazine, Digipath Labs not only uses FDA compliant equipment (some of it costing in excess of $250,000, each), the company also goes beyond purity testing.

In addition to testing for potency of CBD, terpene, and THC counts of thousands of professionally-sold plants, the company also tests for other things too. During an interview with Incriber Magazine he noted that “Along with figuring out the quantities of the major components of cannabis, we also have to find out how many impurities are in the sample. This helps prevent bad cannabis from reaching the market.”

This includes testing microbes for

E. coli, Total Yeast & Mold (TYM)

Total Aerobic Bacteria (TAC)

Coliform bacteria

Enterobacteriaceae

Pathogenic Salmonella spp.

It also goes beyond that even, testing for heavy metals, pesticides, plant sexing, and cannabis genotyping.

When I toured the facility is was an education to be sure. Overwhelming really, at the intense detail of it all, and the stringent processes they use. They were recently awarded yet another 3 Emerald Test Proficiency Badges. And in addition to testing, the parent company Digitpath.com has been compiling the results on 10’s of thousands of tests, to become one of the leaders of comprehensive cannabis-rated data information.

As the Green Rush has spread across the United States with the legalization of cannabis-, we’ve seen the explosion of cannabis-related new jobs. Cannabis-infused products are ranging from coffee to candy, and beauty products to the recent announcement of planned soft drinks.

The Washington Post declared that with the cannabis legalization in Canada, jobs there too are surging. Colombia too legalized cannabis cultivation and export, and U.S. and Canadian companies are investing there. OneWorld Pharma was highlighted in Thrive Magazine as a company that has positioned itself to become one of the largest high-quality, high-output, low-cost suppliers of cannabis extract related ingredients to the many big brands that will need consistent, reliable, quality raw materials to infuse into their products.

Whatever this new Green Rush turns out to be, it seems that it has only begun.