There is a lot of uneasiness right now in the cannabis community over the possibility that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will dismantle the legal marijuana industry once it takes control of the United States government later this month, but some experts say they are “cautiously optimistic” that the situation will work out for the best.
A recent survey by Marijuana Business Daily finds that most people with their fingers on the pulse of the marijuana reform movement believe that Donald Trump will continue to allow the marijuana industry to function as it has done freely under the direction of President Obama. However, the same council is not holding its breath when it comes to the intentions of U.S. Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions
“For the most part, experts all think we will see a continuation of some form of the status quo,” Chris Walsh, editor of Marijuana Business Daily, told Yahoo Finance. “Maybe there will be some efforts to crack down here and there, but the consensus is that a widespread crackdown will be difficult.
“If Trump’s going to attack the marijuana industry—like the recreational side, or the new states that legalized—it’s going to be very difficult for him to do that,” Walsh continued. “He’s going to have a very hard time unwinding all the time and money and effort that states have put into these programs.”
There is an immense level of uncertainty regarding this matter, mostly because, since Donald Trump has never held a political position, no one has any idea exactly where he will stand on the issue once he takes over as the next Leader of the Free World. The only basis for optimism is some brief remarks he made last year on the campaign trial, suggesting that he believes marijuana legalization should be left up to the states and that he supports medical marijuana “100 percent.”
From a business standpoint, it has been suggested that Trump, who ran his entire campaign professing the creation of more jobs, should clearly see the positive impact the cannabis industry has had on the American workforce.
According to a report by Arcview Market Research, nationwide marijuana sales hit $6.7 billion in 2016 – contributing to thousands upon thousands of new jobs.
It was revealed earlier this week that the group responsible for getting marijuana legalized in the District of Columbia plans to distribute free marijuana at the Trump inauguration. The goal of the protest is to bring some much needed attention to the issue of nationwide legalization as well as to encourage the new administration to respect the will of the people and allow legal weed to persevere
