CEOs of the largest cannabis companies in the world said they’re not waiting for the US federal government to legalize cannabis while they focus on growing their businesses.

Insider asked eight CEOs of some of the largest publicly traded cannabis firms — like Curaleaf, Aurora Cannabis, and Weedmaps — for their best predictions for the industry in 2022.

Several said they were hopeful that Congress would pass some form of cannabis reform, but most said they were betting on a narrower banking bill ahead of full-scale legalization or decriminalization.

They predicted that most of the action would happen at the state level, particularly in the Northeast, where New York, New Jersey, and other populous states are set to open doors to legal recreational-cannabis shops.

Cannabis is fully legal for adults in 19 states and Washington, DC, though not every state has started selling to the public. Most provide access to legal medical cannabis, though some restrict which products are available and who can access them.

Cannabis is legal in Canada and Uruguay. Other countries, including Germany, are moving toward legalization.

Among other predictions, the CEOs said they expected that European countries would weigh cannabis reform, that some brands would emerge as market leaders nationally, and that owning intellectual property around biosynthetic cannabis would be crucial. [Read More @ Business Insider]