When Hadley Ford created a company for investing in the fast-growing business of legal marijuana, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. investment banker left New York and headed north of the border.

While more than half of U.S. states allow marijuana for medical or recreational use, the drug is still outlawed by the federal government, starving pot entrepreneurs of institutional capital. Major stock exchanges won’t accept listings for businesses that Washington deems illegal, and banks and other lenders have stayed mostly on the sidelines.

As advocates for medical marijuana gather in Washington, D.C., on Friday for an annual conference, supporters of marijuana legalization are worried.

That's because new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been making tough comments about the drug, and there's a lot of uncertainty about how the Trump administration will enforce federal law.

Over his 20 years in the U.S. Senate, Jeff Sessions made no secret of his disdain for marijuana. In his new job as the nation's top federal law enforcement officer, his position on marijuana has not moderated.

As Sessions has said, "I'm definitely not a fan of expanded use of marijuana."

The country, however, is moving in a different direction.

States that have legalized recreational or medical marijuana could have a better idea by late July how the Justice Department intends to handle marijuana enforcement under the Trump administration.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo Wednesday indicating that the initial recommendations from the department’s new task force on crime reduction and public safety were due by July 27.

The task force is expected to identify ways to reduce violent crime and illegal immigration, and as part of that undertaking is evaluating existing policy in numerous areas — including marijuana enforcement, charging and sentencing, and asset forfeiture.

Medical marijuana was briefly on the TSA website's list of things you can bring on a plane in your carry on baggage or checked baggage. But the federal transportation agency says that's an error.

"We're sorry for any confusion," the TSA said in a post on Twitter. "A mistake was made in the database of our new 'What can I bring?' tool."

The agency added: "While we have no regulations on transporting marijuana, possession is a crime under Federal law...Our officers aren't looking for illegal narcotics, but they have to report them to law enforcement when discovered."

Marijuana reform activist Tom Angell first noted on Twitter that the TSA website said medical marijuana is allowed on a plane.

Somatik is seeking funding for its cannabis-infused beverage business; the company has already partnered with Ritual, a San Francisco coffee business.

With recreational marijuana legal in eight states and medicinal use approved in 20 more, investors are seeing the potential to produce a different kind of green.

Growth industry: The cannabis economy is seen as the fastest growing big business in America, increasing 30 percent last year to $6.7 billion, according to ArcView. 

Alaska marijuana regulators will resume the on-again, off-again debate over onsite pot consumption in retail stores Wednesday amid a rejection of the concept from the state's top medical officer.

The Alaska Marijuana Control Board began mulling — and preparing for — onsite use of marijuana in 2015, following voter approval of recreational use of pot by those 21 and older.

Members peppered regulations with references to onsite use and worked on rules for how that would be carried out. The board veered away from the visions some had of Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes, instead proposing that retail stores cordon off separate rooms for onsite use.

While the tension between state and federal laws has created a difficult situation for cannabis users, there’s another factor that is complicating the changing attitude towards weed: hospitals. Though it isn’t legally mandated, many hospitals won’t allow people who use weed to be placed on organ transplant waiting lists.

The Scratch & Sniff Book of Weed teaches readers about the benefits of cannabis use, as well as social issues such as the discriminatory nature of the drug policy enforcement.

During a week when two of the biggest movies out are Power Rangers and CHiPs, it’s easy to succumb to the belief that there’s truly nothing new under the sun.

Then along comes The Scratch & Sniff Book of Weed.

It looks like a children’s book, with a bright yellow cover, hand-drawn illustrations and those thick cardboard pages that little hands can easily flip. But the content is decidedly adult, with tiny chapters on everything from “The Botany of Buzz” to the legalization movement to weed in the bedroom.

Oregon's pot industry sold nearly 5 million grams — or roughly 11,000 pounds — of marijuana during the first three months of 2016, according to a report from the state government.

Missouri deems marijuana possession a crime that carries hundreds of dollars in fines and a potential jail term. But residents of Kansas City voted overwhelmingly to reduce the penalties there, becoming the latest city in the state to relax punishments for people caught with small amounts of pot.

Nearly 75 percent of voters approved the ballot initiative, Question 5, in Tuesday's special election. The pot measure was considered alongside infrastructure issues and candidates for school district posts.

From member station KCUR reporter Lisa Rodriguez: