They had bigger worries, like sorting out the legitimate business ventures from the hype among row upon row of exhibitors showcasing cannabis growing, smoking, eating and even banking products. The Trump administration’s menacing signals seemed a mere sideshow to those who make their living off reefer, or aspire to.
After an initial period of post-election anxiety, pot businesses are increasingly confident that states where they are setting up shop have their backs, despite Justice Department warnings meant to rattle marijuana enthusiasts.
State leaders are proving themselves nimble at responding to the threat, moving to inoculate local marijuana industries that are fast becoming too important to state economies to leave vulnerable to the whims of Washington.
And they are moving not just in the places where it is politically easy, like California. Even some Republican states are signaling Trump to back off.
“We are seeing states have become very territorial about their rights to do this, regardless of what the Trump administration does,” said John Hudak, a marijuana policy expert at the Brookings Institution. He points to Nevada, where Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval opposed the state’s successful legalization initiative but is nonetheless vowing to move forward with recreational pot there.
