The marijuana industry is booming in the United States.

From the $52 billion in sales the industry posted to the 76% increase in cannabis jobs this year, there are plenty of statistics to show marijuana’s startling contributions to the US economy.

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Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) is announcing on Thursday that she will send legislation to the District of Columbia Council for consideration to legalize the sale of cannabis to adults 21+.

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Congress legalized the use of hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products late last year in the farm bill, sending the agency scrambling to figure out new rules around regulating a unique product that is both a drug and a dietary supplement.

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Momentum within the marijuana industry is undeniable. Since 1995, we’ve seen support for broad-based legalization in the U.S. catapult from just 25% to 66% in October 2018, according to Gallup’s national poll. We’ve also gone from having zero U.S. states legalized for medical or recreational purposes in 1995 to 33 states having approved medical marijuana as of today, with 10 also allowing adult consumption.

This same momentum can be seen outside the United States as well. Today, more than 40 countries worldwide have given the green light to medical cannabis, with two — Canada and Uruguay — allowing the recreational sale of the drug. In fact, Canada’s landmark legalization in 2018 marked the first time an industrialized country had fully legalized weed.

The big question always seems to be, which country is next?

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It’s hard to know exactly how many jobs there are in the legal cannabis business. The United States Labor Department collects data from cannabis farms and retailers, but does not provide figures for the industry. Still, listings for cannabis-related positions have rocketed to the top echelon of the fastest-growing-job categories on sites like Indeed and ZipRecruiter.

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There has already been much consolidation in the cannabis sector, but industry experts say there’s much more to come in the next two years, as national brands emerge via M&A among Multi-State Operators in the next two years.

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch deepened its interest in the cannabis industry by initiating coverage of the burgeoning sector, less than a year after it financed Constellation’s multibillion-dollar investment in Canada’s Canopy Growth.

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There has been plenty of skepticism about whether the STATES Act has a shot at passage. But there’s one big reason why U.S. marijuana legalization might actually happen this year: politics.

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Here are some notable stories and events to watch for in the coming days as published by MJ Biz Daily.

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These are five trending political, scientific, and clinical cannabis questions in 2019 that are attracting lots of attention by clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and producers alike.

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