Walk into Brett Vapnik's medicinal marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles and the pungent aroma of pot is good and strong.

All day long, hundreds of people file in and out -- a sign of the strength of the pot industry, despite big question marks posed by the new administration of President Donald Trump.

For now Vapnik, who also has a small pot garden in his store, just sells marijuana for medicinal purposes: from the plant itself, with varying degrees of potency, to beauty products and even chocolate and cookies, all laced with herb.

But next year he expects sales to triple, as the most populous US state is slated to legalize sales and consumption of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Almost 60 percent of the US population lives in states where the sale and use of marijuana is legal to one extent or another: 29 states and the capital Washington, DC have laws governing its medicinal use.

And of these, eight and Washington, DC allow its use for people simply to get high, for fun.

But the federal government still classifies marijuana as an illegal drug.