The cannabis sector provided incredible returns during 2016 and many investors are wondering what to expect in 2017.

Despite favorable state-wide elections results in early November, concerns among investors have increased due to some highly questionable cabinet nominations by President-elect Donald Trump.

Although 2016 was a banner year for the cannabis industry, we expect 2017 to be just as significant. From the development of FDA approved pharmaceutical cannabis-based products to the commencement of recreational cannabis sales in Canada, there is a lot for investor to watch this year.

We want to highlight important investment themes for 2017 and provide recommendations based off these themes.

Biotech Breakouts

It’s difficult to predict what the next four years will look like for cannabis users. While President-elect Trump has made a number of contradictory statements on the subject of legalization, his pick for Attorney General, Sen. Jeff Sessions, holds some radical viewpoints, once claiming, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

The owner of a Halifax medical marijuana dispensary says the business will continue to operate, despite being raided last week.

“We have to make a stand,” said Shirley Martineau. “I’m here for the patients and I’m not quitting anytime soon. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Martineau opened Auntie’s Health and Wellness on Barrington Street four months ago. Last month she told CTV Atlantic she would sell cannabis to anyone over the age of 19, whether or not they have a prescription for medical marijuana.

In the last few years, attitudes to marijuana in the U.S. appeared to be easing.

And in many ways, they have. Four states have fully legalized recreational cannabis, and four more voted to follow them in November.

But the same election that doubled the number of pot-tolerant states brought Donald Trump into the White House. With him come people in key cabinet positions who loathe marijuana and have at least some power to act on it. Marijuana is still illegal under U.S. federal law.

What a difference one election can make.

The approval of a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana and Donald Trump’s surprise White House win weren’t just two of the biggest political stories in Arkansas. They also upended the agenda for the upcoming legislative session and are likely to dominate Arkansas’ politics in 2017.

From establishing the first medical pot program in the Bible Belt to the future of a hybrid Medicaid expansion program covering thousands, the state faces plenty of questions in the new year.

Here’s a look at some of the issues and challenges to face the state in the next year:

Medical marijuana

Toronto's marijuana dispensaries had a turbulent 2016, and there are no signs 2017 will be any different for the fledgling businesses and their many customers.

The dispensaries plan to continue selling marijuana and police plan to continue raiding them.

"They are serving a need," Michael McLellan, spokesperson for the Canadian Cannabis Retail Council, said of Toronto's marijuana dispensaries.

"There are still tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of patients frequenting marijuana retailers here in Toronto and I think they will continue to do so," McLellan said in an interview.

Voters in eight states passed marijuana legalization laws following the 2016 presidential election, giving the legalization movement the required momentum for more states across the country to carry out discussions on the decriminalization of cannabis in 2017.

Here are seven states to watch that are gearing up to legalize cannabis in 2017:

Delaware

The recreational legalization of cannabis is expected to be discussed by the state’s officials in early 2017. Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, during a Medical Marijuana Act Oversight Committee meeting in October 2016, said: “It’s time to certainly look at it.”

Having a marijuana offense on a person’s record can wreak havoc on that person’s life for many years, well after they were caught with marijuana. A marijuana conviction can prevent a person from getting financial assistance in college, prevent them from getting a job, and even prevent them from being approved for a rental property to live in. That’s why I always call a marijuana conviction on a person’s record the ‘marijuana scarlet letter.’

In 2016 Ohio legalized Marijuana. Now in 2017 we are hoping to learn more about what that really means.

It won't be until at least September of 2018 before the program is expected to be in full swing.

The Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee has already had it's initial meetings, and it's addressing several issues right now, including if 40 dispensaries is enough to serve Ohioans in 88 counties.

Democrat Joe Schiavoni is the Senate Minority Leader, "Now the Department of Pharmacy has actually made recommendations about how many dispensaries and who can dispense medicinal marijuana, and where it's going to be grown."

D.C. pot advocates plan to hand out joints and get stoned during Donald Trump’s inaugural address.

A community group of weed smokers and growers say they will gather at Dupont Circle Jan. 20, the morning of the Inauguration, then parade toward the National Mall handing out 4,200 joints along the way.

“We have to give away marijuana at the Inauguration, we have to encourage people to use marijuana during his speech,” said Adam Eidenger, who helped lead the drive to legalize pot in D.C. in a November 2014 ballot initiative. “I imagine there’ll be the smell of marijuana throughout the Inauguration,” he said.