We Have Some Odd Cannabis Laws Across the United States
The lack of federal guidance has led to a patchwork of state laws and outright oddities around cannabis. While some of these regulations have presented lucrative loopholes for entrepreneurs with a high risk tolerance, the intended and often unintended consequences of others can be difficult to comprehend. “Marijuana laws in America, beyond being almost universally draconic and overly punitive for most of our history, are also extraordinarily odd even to this day,” said Erik Altieri, former executive director of NORML and current strategist for the Clean Slate Initiative . Altieri points out that a significant factor behind the eccentricities of American cannabis laws comes from the decentralized approach to policy-making. “Marijuana policy is largely drafted and enforced at the state and local level,” he said. “This resulted in a patchwork of cannabis laws that can change radically when you cross a state border. With so many varying systems, combined with laws that have been slowly...