CAN2108. Keynote: Embracing the Future of Legal Cannabis

Legal marijuana is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States, despite operating under a patchwork of conflicting laws and ever-changing regulations. Now, with 19 states regulating adult-use sales and 36 states allowing medical marijuana sales, the cannabis industry is coming out of the shadows and beginning to be accepted and treated as a significant, professional sector. As state legalization laws pass at a rapid pace and a federal legalization bill is poised to be introduced in the United States Senate for the first time, a historic opportunity presents itself to participate in the creation of a new national marketplace rooted in fairness and equity.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the current status of legal and medical marijuana and hemp throughout the United States.
• Discover how current and developing state regulatory frameworks are building on previous lessons learned.
• Consider how potential federal laws are poised to rapidly change the cannabis industry.