Like a growing number of U.S. states, Massachusetts has legalized cannabis for adult use. Over 60 percent of Americans favor legalizing cannabis – roughly the same percentage of voters on Nantucket who voted “yes” on legalization. But since cannabis products cannot cross federal water or travel through federal airspace to reach the island, the production, testing and sale of cannabis on the island must be completely self-contained.
Nantucket’s situation is just one example of the unexpected complications of what is arguably the largest and most widespread contradiction between state and federal law since the Civil War. States are increasingly moving toward legalizing all forms of cannabis. A majority of Americans either have or soon will have access to legal cannabis – for medical use in 33 states, and for “adult” or recreational use in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The legal and recreational markets in these states are already grossing billions of dollars, despite federal prohibition.
At the federal level, however, little has changed. Cannabis remains illegal, classified by the Controlled Substances Act alongside heroin and LSD as a dangerous “Schedule I” drug with a high potential for abuse and little medical benefit. And while state legalization has allowed the cannabis industry to grow – it generated over $10 billion in sales last year and employs more than 211,000 people nationwide — state laws are increasingly unable to overcome hurdles created for the cannabis industry by the federal government.
What this means is that while some Americans are making money producing and selling cannabis, other Americans are still being arrested and charged for the exact same activities. In 2017, the most recent year for which full statistics are available, the nascent industry neared $8 billion in sales, legal states made $745 million in cannabis tax revenue, and 659,700 people were arrested and charged with cannabis-related violations, including possession.
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