One of the richest cash crops is making a hugh impact in Florida Marijuana. It’s legal for adults over the age of 21 to smoke marijuana without a doctor’s letter in nine states. Medical marijuana is legal in 29 states. Florida became the first state to legalize marijuana through the legislature, rather than a ballot initiative when the Governor signed the bill into law in January. Marijuana prohibition began 80 years ago when the federal government put a ban on the sale, cultivation, and use of the cannabis plant. It remains illegal on the federal level. Despite the efforts of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been on a crusade to stamp out legal marijuana since his appointment, the industry is exploding. Legal marijuana sales were expected to hit billions in North America in 2017, according to a report which has not yet released final numbers for the year, but its forecast represents a increase over , shattering previous expectations about how quickly the industry could grow in the face of federal prohibition. The report also predicted that the entire legal marijuana market will reach many billions in sales which is close to a 30% annual growth rate expected by 2022, as more state-legal markets come online. Legal marijuana sales are predicted to go bonkers in may Florida cities such as West Palm Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and many more. That represents an unprecedented increase, shattering previous expectations about how quickly the cannabis industry could grow in the face of federal prohibition. The report further predicts the entire legal cannabis market to reach billions in sales – a annual growth rate – as more states legalize marijuana for recreational use and existing markets mature. The industry’s growth is buoyed by a number of new state-legal markets coming online in 2017, where legal medicinal marijuana sales began in July, raked in many millions during the first month of sales, according to the report. The report notes that the projection hinges on the assumption that the federal government does not crack down on state-legal cannabis, nor does it assume that there will be a host of new states legalizing marijuana in the next few years. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a noted opponent of marijuana legalization, though the Justice Department has not yet indicated that it would seek to prosecute state-legal marijuana businesses. Recreational marijuana is legal in seven states, and some form of medicinal marijuana is legal in thirty states. Marijuana is still considered an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the federal government, however.