How the CLAIM Act will affect insurers

The cannabis industry is expected to grow 30% in 2019 despite being illegal on a federal level. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Editor’s Note: A webinar addressing the legal and insurance issues related to the legalization of cannabis will be held on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. ET. Register here.

By the end of 2019, the cannabis industry* is expected to employ more than 200,000 people and could be worth as much as $48 billion in the United States. By almost any means of measuring growth, the industry will expand by more than 30% in 2019 alone. However, despite the headlines proclaiming cannabis “legal” in a growing number of states, cannabis, in fact, remains illegal at the federal level — it is categorized as a Schedule I drug by the U.S. government, meaning a drug “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”