Cannabis culture has moved in a few short years from an illicit black market to a legal industry in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Earlier this year the data analysis firm New Frontier pronounced recreational cannabis the fastest-growing industry sector in the United States, outpacing electric vehicles, LED bulbs, solar installations and big data.

Legal cannabis sales reached nearly $7 billion in 2016, up from more than $5 billion last year. Many expect sales in excess of $20 billion by 2020, even without federal legalization.

As marijuana shops sprout in states that have legalized the drug, they face a critical stumbling block — lack of access to the kind of routine banking services other businesses take for granted.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, is leading an effort to make sure vendors working with legal marijuana businesses, from chemists who test marijuana for harmful substances to firms that provide security, don’t have their banking services taken away.

It’s part of a wider effort by Warren and others to bring the burgeoning $7 billion marijuana industry in from a fiscal limbo she said forces many shops to rely solely on cash, making them tempting targets for criminals.

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.”

Since different states in the US have become marijuana friendly, entrepreneurs have embraced this as a viable business opportunity. In fact, marijuana legalization has birthed numerous business opportunities. They are not just for those dealing with the product, but also for professionals like business attorneys helping startups to secure relevant requirements for a legal marijuana-related business. This provides employment for the citizens as well as improve the government’s gross revenue. Whether you are interested in recreational or medical marijuana opportunities, here are some 5 things you need to know before you dive in marijuana-related business.

1. The state rules and statutes governing marijuana cultivation, use, and distribution.

Legal weed is big business.

The North American marijuana market posted $6.7 billion in revenue in 2016, up 30% from the year before, according to a new report from Arcview Market Research, a leading publisher of cannabis market research.

The so-called green rush shows no sign of slowing down.

Arcview projects sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25% through 2021, when the North American market is expected to top $20.2 billion.

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.

In 2016, roughly 60% of Americans said they favored the legalization of recreational marijuana, as the industry gained support in invalidating the war on drugs and seven states voted to legalize pot for recreational or medical use.

It was a watershed year for weed. The industry took significant steps in solidifying the market, demonstrating its earnings potential, while advocates fought to debunk the stigmas tied to consumption and argue that states can use it help plug budget holes. In Colorado, where marijuana is legal for recreational use, total revenue from marijuana taxes, licenses and fees came to $72.8 million, as of October 2016.

Will Canadian cannabis stocks remain under pressure following the release of information related to product recalls or will this weakness provide investors with the best buying opportunity of 2017?

Late last week, The Globe and Mail published an article on the discovery of Myclobutanil, a controversial pesticide found in in products sold by Mettrum Ltd. (MT.V), a federally licensed medical cannabis producer.

What is Myclobutanil?

Myclobutanil is a chemical that is prohibited for use on legal cannabis in Colorado, Washington and Oregon because of health concerns. The pesticide is known to emit hydrogen cyanide when heated.

There have been several major developments for cannabis research in 2016 amidst unprecedented debate about marijuana’s medical potential among federal officials and congressional lawmakers. The most significant growth in the cannabis industry happened during the eight years Barack Obama has been president. Before then, there were roughly a dozen states with medical cannabis laws and now that has more than doubled with several of those states formally allowing commercial adult use.