The Illinois treasurer has sent President Donald Trump a letter urging him to give clear guidance to the banking industry about medical marijuana.

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs issued a news release Monday saying Trump’s approach will be crucial to the continuing availability of medical marijuana in Illinois.

Federal law prohibits banks from processing money used in the legal marijuana industry. Frerichs says this makes it difficult for businesses to get loans and restricts customers to cash-only transactions.

Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department stated it would not make enforcement a priority, knowing that many states had legalized some marijuana use.

It turns out a law degree is just as helpful in launching a medical marijuana business as it is dealing with mortgages.

Charlie Bachtell was general counsel at Chicago-based mortgage company Guaranteed Rate when the lawyer in him became captivated by Illinois' medical marijuana law. He left mortgage banking and today the 38-year-old is the CEO and co-founder of medical marijuana company Cresco Labs. 

As he stood among the drying plants in Cresco's Joliet growing facility, Bachtell talked with the Tribune about why he switched careers and what it's like combating the stigma surrounding the industry. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Attitudes towards cannabis have shifted dramatically over the last two decades, and this has been reflected in recent changes to the law in many countries around the world. Just this November, an additional four US states voted to make recreational cannabis use legal, bringing the total to eight, (plus Washington DC). And over half of US states have legalized medicinal cannabis use.

But, given that cannabis was previously a prohibited drug in almost every country, regulators face major challenges in getting to grips with what is now a flourishing legal cannabis industry. And in the USA, with individual states making their own laws while the drug remains illegal at the federal level, the situation is further complicated.

The Ihm family has exhausted 21 different treatment methods to control the violent outbursts of their 8-year-old son, Ethan, who has a severe form of autism.

No drug has been successful and institutionalization is becoming a more likely outcome, said Ethan’s brother, Elliott.

But still exploring other options, the Ihm family organized a rally Thursday afternoon in downtown DeKalb to implore the Illinois Department of Public Health to allow them to consider another possible treatment for Ethan, medical cannabis.

Signs reading “Help Legalize Medicine” and “Honk for Hash” crowded the corner of Lincoln Parkway and First Street. By 4:30 p.m., about 15 supporters were holding signs.

Illinois is marking its first year of medical marijuana sales as more states voted on Election Day to allow legal use of the drug.

Despite anecdotes of medical marijuana's positive influence on patients, broader data and randomized clinical trials of its use remain very limited, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Officials said there have been very few overt problems with the program since the first dispensaries opened in Illinois on Nov. 9, 2015. Police said they haven't seen any significant complications and that no patients have had their licenses rescinded for using the drug illegally. 

U.S. News Updates

Alaska

Alaska’s first commercial cannabis harvests are underway. The first official legal crop comes from Greatland Ganja, a small cultivator on the Kenai Peninsula. Greatland has harvested about 75 pounds of cannabis so far, of an expected total of about 100 pounds consisting of 10 different strains. Unfortunately, however, the first harvest may not have anywhere to go. Distribution and sales are stalled until state-licensed testing laboratories are up and running. At the moment two labs are nearing completion in Anchorage: CannTest hopes to open by mid-October and AK Green Labs aims to be online by early November.

Arkansas

"Cam," my mother said, "the G6 flower is still our top seller, but the brownies and cookies are going like crazy!"

Two years ago, hearing my mom talk about different kinds of marijuana would have been empirically weird, but today it is completely common. In November 2015, she, two business partners and I opened Harbory — a medical cannabis dispensary in Marion, Ill., two hours from my hometown of St. Louis.