The Great American cannabis experiment
Cannabis is legal in many U.S. states… or is it? The contradictions between state and federal law are intensifying.
The Green Lady Dispensary on Nantucket island sells cannabis products, but that’s not all it does. The shop also grows and processes its own marijuana flower, cooks or bakes all the weed-infused candy and other edibles sold on the shelves, and tests everything for safety and chemical content. In fact, everything the Green Lady sells is made completely in-house – something very uncommon for a dispensary.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Since cannabis products cannot cross federal water or travel through federal airspace to reach Nantucket island, the production, testing and sale of cannabis on the island must be completely self-contained.
- While state legalization has allowed the cannabis industry to grow, state laws are increasingly unable to overcome hurdles created for the cannabis industry by the federal government.
- With every new state that legalizes, the contradictions deepen and there are growing signs that the strain between state legalization and federal prohibition is reaching a breaking point.
