From marijuana-laced candy to body lotion infused with marijuana, this controversial plant is becoming a big business in the United States as more states make it mainstream. Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is now legal in 28 U.S. states for either medical or recreational use. Of those states, four of them legalized recreational marijuana last November, including California. At a dispensary in Los Angeles, the experience for customers is more similar to a trip to the winery or high-end retail store. There are cannabis plants on well-lit display and available for a smell test, as well as other edibles. It\u2019s an effort to dispel pot\u2019s stigma and normalize its use. \u201cIt\u2019s inevitable. Get with it,\u201d said a customer who would only give his first name, Eric. He sees it as an herb with fewer side effects than prescription pain medicine. Public opinion about legalization of marijuana has shifted in its favor. The Pew Research Center finds that 57 percent of those polled support the legal use of marijuana compared to 32 percent in 2006. The cannabis industry is also growing. In 2016, the legalized marijuana business reached close to $7 billion. That number is expected to increase to more than $21 billion in five years, according to Arcview Market Research, which describes cannabis as the \u201cfastest growing industry in the world.\u201d State vs. federal laws Underneath the growing public support and booming industry, federal law still considers marijuana as illegal, even though state law may say otherwise. The administration of former President Barack Obama took a hands-off approach and left it up to the states to govern and prosecute the use of marijuana. With the new Trump administration comes uncertainty. \u201cThe marijuana industry is definitely an industry that is in flux and part of it is because of this very complex regulatory landscape. It\u2019s legal at the state level, it\u2019s illegal at the federal level and there are a lot of conflicting laws,\u201d said Daniel Yi, a spokesman for MedMen, a management company for marijuana dispensaries. \u201cThere are areas of law [in] which we have both federal and state laws. When those laws are in direct conflict, the federal law trumps \u2013 no pun intended of course \u2013 the idea being really the supremacy clause which is a clause in the United States Constitution that makes clear that the federal law is supreme,\u201d said constitutional law and political science expert Martin Adamian at California State University, Los Angeles. Adamian said even though federal agents can still enforce laws at a state level, federal law does not undo the state law if they conflict, making this a gray area and often confusing to the lay person. Ultimately, it is up to each administration to set enforcement priorities. The new Trump administration is creating uncertainty among those in the cannabis industry. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of fear from those involved in the medical marijuana as well as the recreational marijuana industries. There\u2019s a lot of fear about the uncertainty that exists. And so it may be the case that the Trump administration could decide to prosecute individuals on some level for violations of those laws,\u201d said Adamian. The new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has in the past been a critic of marijuana. In a 2016 Senate Drug Caucus hearing, Sessions, then a senator from Alabama, said, \u201cGood people don\u2019t smoke marijuana.\u201d In his Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general, Sessions was vague when answering a question from Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. \u201cWould you use our federal resources to investigate and prosecute sick people who are using marijuana in accordance with their state laws even though it may violate federal law?\u201d questioned Leahy. \u201cI won\u2019t commit to never enforcing federal law, Senator Leahy, but absolutely it\u2019s a problem of resources for the federal government,\u201d replied Sessions. \u201cWith enough independence and freedom to decide the direction he wants to go, somebody like Jeff Sessions may very well try to enforce federal marijuana laws which could lead to additional raids even within states that have approved marijuana use,\u201d said Adamian. Some players in the cannabis industry, however, are more hopeful, including Yi. \u201cIf you go by the theory that government follows the will of the people, and the fact that the marijuana industry\u2019s already thriving – It\u2019s already growing and it\u2019s functioning within the bounds of law and is showing it\u2019s a possible industry, I think we feel pretty optimistic about the future.\u201d Congress is responding to the growing popularity of marijuana. Four members of Congress formed a bipartisan Cannabis Caucus to bridge the disconnect between state and federal government, and capitalize on the growing industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From marijuana-laced candy to body lotion infused with marijuana, this controversial plant is becoming a big business in the United States as more states make it mainstream. Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is now legal in 28 U.S. states for either medical or recreational use. Of those states, four of them legalized recreational marijuana last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}