How legal cannabis has swept across the US – transforming the economy and putting states at odds with the federal government

Cultivate’s store is a pretty slick operation. Fashionably minimalist, its wares – from $25 cannabis-infused coconut lime macaroons to assorted marijuana strains rejoicing in names like Golden Tiger and Power Africa – are set out on shelves and in display cases.

The full panoply of corporate marketing is on view with cards promoting enterprises such as “weedmaps”, an internet guide to the best dealers, neatly set out on a counter as customers arrive.

What was once a machinists’ shop has been given a full make over.  Staff wearing grey t-shirts with the Cultivate logo serve the customers who snake their way up to the bleached wood counters.

And the customers came in vast numbers. Huddled in padded…