by Ken Root
There is something to be said for growing a fully legal crop. Corn, soybeans, and wheat, all are legal to produce in all 50 states.
Marijuana is not. Even though 39 states have some medical or recreational state law that allows it.
Now the industry waits to see what the Trump Administration does to enforce Federal laws on sale and use of marijuana.
Last week 10 thousand people showed up for a Marijuana industry convention in Las Vegas, twice the number who attended last year. Their mood was reported to be ?nervous.?
As the new Trump Administration is a total wild card for those who assumed they would make a fortune selling legal pot in states that allow it.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the prospects for the ultra right administration to trump state laws with the long standing federal laws which cite it to be as dangerous as heroin or LSD.
A key indicator of the likelihood of renewed policing is the appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the nation?s leading drug-law reform group said: ?Sessions would be, as far as I can tell, a nightmare on marijuana and all other drug policy.?
Antimarijuana activist Kevin Sabet, director of Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the news offered him hope after four states legalized marijuana in this election.
?It?s become a lot risker to be a marijuana investor, and the market doesn?t like risk. Right now, the chances of marijuana legalization being tolerated on the federal level have fallen from the sky.?
Only two documents hold back federal prosecutors in cannabis cases: a congressional law blocking the Department of Justice from interfering in state medical marijuana systems, and a White House memo ordering prosecutors to ignore state-legal pot activity.
The congressional law? could sunset Dec. 9. And a new Trump administration could tear up the White House?s Memo on Inauguration Day.
All this makes low margin corn and beans look pretty good.
