What’s next for U.S. marijuana industry under President Trump?

The future for the U.S. marijuana industry, with multiple states passing new laws, is tinged with uncertainty with Donald Trump becoming U.S. President-Elect.

By Alicia Wallace, The Cannabist Staff

Election 2016 proved momentous for the marijuana industry.

Nine states decided whether to legalize the medical use of marijuana or allow recreational use for adults, and voters in at least seven of them — notably California — supported those moves. Success of the ballot measures were projected to vault cannabis to a $21 billion industry by 2020, according to market research firm New Frontier Data and Arcview Market Research, marking a slight increase from its pre-election estimate.

But Tuesday’s big victory for marijuana legalization proponents was tinged with uncertainty. The 29 states with medical marijuana laws and those that now have recreational use regulations would be growing their markets under Republican President-Elect Donald J. Trump.

Both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary R. Clinton had said they favored states’ rights and indicated they would not dismantle existing marijuana regulations; however, some of Trump’s past statements and his political allies have not been as supportive of the issue, policy experts have noted.

On Wednesday, marijuana legalization proponents remained cautiously optimistic that their industry would remain intact.

Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace, a backer of his southern Colorado community’s recreational marijuana industry and booming cannabis cultivation operations, lauded Pueblo’s vote to retain its existing recreational marijuana marketand the potential economic boon that may come from areas such as wholesale cultivation and research.

Pace’s optimism was slightly tempered by the unknowns at the federal level.

“(Trump has said) he’s not changing any laws … I hope that’s the only campaign promise he keeps,” Pace said. “He is surrounded by a bunch of those who are terrible on the issue.”

One of the concerns highlighted by marijuana industry members is who will serve as U.S. Attorney……

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