The legal marijuana industry, which celebrated several monumental victories during the election, is now fearful. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has expressed fierce opposition to marijuana, is now being considered as a pick for attorney general.
Approximately 58% of Americans now support marijuana legalization, as is evident by the victories celebrated in eight states after the election. Giuliani’s potential appointment, however, could be detrimental to those victories. The former NYC mayor is only one of several names being floated, but the prospect is concerning enough for individuals to fear for the future of the marijuana industry.
Cannabis is already a $6 billion-a-year industry, and is expected to triple as states begin setting up their infrastructures post-election. By the time January rolls around, approximately one in five adults will be living in states where marijuana has been legalized in some form. Post-election, a full 28 states will be distributing legal medicinal marijuana.
While many believe they have cause to fear, others aren’t worried about the impacts of a Trump administration on legal marijuana. Industry members are still concerned about some of the names floating around for different positions under Trump, but don’t see it as any immediate concern yet.
“It’s something that we’re definitely looking at, but we’re not currently concerned,” said a spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project. According to the spokesperson, the industry’s strategy isn’t going to change just yet. Like a good portion of the nation, the marijuana industry will wait and see what happens before making any major calls.
Trump himself has been tolerant, if not accepting of medical marijuana in the past, and has expressed that the issue is one for the states to tackle on their own. In fact, an interview from 1990 reveals that Trump himself said the only way to win the “war on drugs” was to legalize them.
Marijuana advocates believe the issue will be impossible to “put back in the bag,” according to Dona Frank, chief executive officer of Santa Rosa, California-based Natural Cannabis Co.
