The Business of Cannabis: New Policies for the New Marijuana Industry

About this book

What happens when corporate culture takes over counterculture? This book explores the contradictions present within the cannabis industry from a business and policy perspective. Despite the unique culture surrounding cannabis this new industry follows the same economic principles as does any other agricultural productthat is it would if the federal government allowed it to. Four distinct challenges prevent the cannabis industry from becoming fully legal and federally regulated in the United States equivalent to the alcohol pharmaceutical or tobacco industries: federal regulations counter to state laws an unfriendly financial system a U.S. attorney general bent on keeping the drug war running and Prohibitions 70-year-old legacy of distrust between legalization advocates and opponents. Policy however is changing. Already the worlds most heavily consumed illicit drug is in the midst of an international transformation. Globally a new international trade market has emerged from efforts to legalize it for medical or recreational use and in the United States the nascent cannabis industry has acquired lobbyists well-financed industry kingpins an extensive ancillary industry and taxation. The Business of Cannabis explores these issues in depth and contextualizes U.S. drug policy at a time when lawmakers across the nation are deciding which way to lean on the issue.