October 6, 2016 4 min read

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Long gone are the scary days of Reefer Madness and an insurmountable societal fear of cannabis. CNN's Sanjay Gupta recently blew up a 70-year myth about the enigmatic herb, confirming its medicinal properties. This, while some states are legalizing the herb's recreational use, and even more states already permit medical marijuana and its derivatives.

It's this momentum that is driving some entrepreneurs to dream of huge returns from the business of cannabis. Industry thought leaders spoke to thousands of aspiring cannapreneurs at the recent Cannabis World Congress, and the standing-room-only keynote crowd was more diverse and less eccentric than one might expect.

Dreadlocks meet Dolce & Gabbana in the new cannabis economy, and that's because the business of cannabis isn't just the business of seeds, soil and water. Today's harvest requires a whole lot of innovation, paired with an influx of outside talent.

Related: How to Grow a Cannabis Farming Business in the Blazing Marijuana Economy

New technologies like 3-D printing are being introduced. Specialized child-resistant, odorless packaging has been developed. Cannabis seed-to-sale cycles are now run with sophisticated inventory systems, business decisions are data-driven, and the industry has the same types of specialized professional services commonplace in traditional business.

Startups to Watch

This collection of notable cannabis startups spans manufacturing, distribution, retail and a few things in between. They're a representation of the industry developments that exist and a mere glimpse of those to come.