Industrializing Cannabis?

Conventional industrial agriculture in the United States (US) displays a number of recognizable characteristics. Market competition in agriculture, as compared with other sectors, tends to be particularly severe due to the large number of farms, their geographical dispersion, limited options for product differentiation, and the perishability of many crops, which inhibits farmers' ability to choose when to sell. Until 1996, cannabis production in California occurred outside of legal systems. In 1996, California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act (CUA), decriminalizing use and cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes. Fear of detection placed informal limits on farm size, especially on private property where plants could be tied to owners and property seizure and arrest was a real threat. The allowance of medical cannabis cultivation after 1996 affected production dynamics. Legal-medical protections, particularly physician recommendations, made it less risky to cultivate, thus fueling an expansion of the number of cultivators.