A clear majority of Americans today want pot legalized. Below are 3 things that must happen in order for the Legal Cannabis Market to thrive.
Over 10 states in the US have legalized recreational marijuana and the vast majority have a legal medical marijuana program. Traditional companies that just a couple years would have nothing to do with cannabis have also made multi-billion dollar investments into the cannabis industry. Although the horizon is looking greener, pot prohibition is not over.
2018 was a great year for cannabis. The US Food and Drug Administration approved its first cannabis-based medicine. Epidiolex was approved mid-year in 2018 and is an FDA approved medicine used in the treatment of patients suffering from rare forms of epilepsy. This is a great milestone for the US government showing support for a “drug” that has no medical value and has the potential for abuse. The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug and lumps it with deadly drugs like heroin.
Many things need to happen before cannabis is a stable industry like any other! The enacting of the Farm Bill by the Trump Administration late 2018 helped move cannabis into a new era as now farmers are legally able to cultivate and process cannabis.
Below we take a look at three important changes that need to happen before cannabis can truly flower and be the industry its meant to be.
1. Progressive Federal laws
Although many states like Colorado, Washington and Colorado have legalized both recreational and medical cannabis, federally it is still illegal in those states, regardless of what state laws say. The federal red tape of cannabis is limiting cross-state business and making it almost impossible for legal cannabis businesses to transact.
2. Financial backing
Due to the federal laws, financial institutions have not rushed to the cannabis party and this is due to cannabis laws that restrict banks dabbling in the marijuana market. Very recently Paypal has put its support behind the cannabis movement and just like many banks, wants its share of the big American. Paypal and a number of other institutions are lobbying government to pass the SAFE (Secure And Fair Enforcement) banking act which will allow them to assist legal cannabis companies to transact. Today the legal pot trade is still shut out of mainstream banking and payment systems.
3. Normalize Cannabis
Regardless of progressive state legalization, over half a million people are still arrested for cannabis each year. Smoking weed or even working for a cannabis company can still have a negative effect on your housing, employment, finances, immigration and essentially your freedom. Statistically speaking African Americans are still incarcerated at a much higher rate than other race by a long stretch.
It may seem like cannabis is going to be legal soon, however until these three issues are addressed cannabis will still battle to find its feet. 2018 was a giant leap forward for cannabis, and hopefully, we will see even more progress throughout 2019.
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