However, the results have been mixed.

Hundreds of illegal dispensaries in California continue to proliferate, and the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, recently ordered National Guard troops near the Mexican border to go after black market cannabis farms. And pot regulations have been unevenly applied. While major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco host cannabis retailers, 80 percent of California’s nearly 500 municipalities do not.

In Canada, it has been nearly a year since the country became the first major world economy to legalize recreational cannabis — a seminal moment akin to ending Prohibition in the United States. Yet a black market that has previously been estimated at 5.3 billion Canadian dollars continues to thrive, and legal sales are far below what proponents of legalization had hoped for.

Six months after Canada legalized pot for recreational use, more than 40 percent of Canadian cannabis users said they bought it from illegal sources, according to a recent report from Canada’s national statistics office. Proponents of legalization argue that it is far too early to pass judgment; it took several years for legal sales in Colorado to surpass 70 percent, for example. DAN BILEFSKY

Recommendations

BETTER EDUCATION ABOUT RISKS Amid the notion that legalization has not been met by adequate education about risks of use, the industry should be required to fund a campaign to educate people on the risks of cannabis, but not be involved in writing the literature. Education should have a strong focus on youth to try and delay the onset of teen use.

CONNECT BANKS WITH LEGAL DISTRIBUTORS Most members of the group were in favor of the Safe Banking Act, which would destigmatize financial relations between banks and businesses that might have an ancillary relationship with cannabis companies, although some in the group strongly objected.

Normalizing banking industry relations with cannabis companies, growers and retailers will help bring businesses out of the illicit market.

Disputes

Some members of the panel did not agree that cannabis should be legal, given its illegality at the federal level. While most people agreed with the necessity of some amnesty, as the criminal justice system disproportionately affects people from marginalized communities, there was little agreement on what decriminalization should look like.

Task Force Moderator: Dan Bilefsky, Canada correspondent, The New York Times. Participants: Alex Berenson, author of “Tell Your Children”; Hilary Black, chief advocacy officer, Canopy Growth Corporation; David Damschen, state treasurer, Utah; Kassandra Frederique, New York State director, Drug Policy Alliance; Sion Harris, director of Center for Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Research, Boston Children’s Hospital; Steve Hawkins, executive director, Marijuana Policy Project; Rob Nichols, president and chief executive, American Bankers Association; Emily Paxhia, co-founder and managing director, Poseidon; Michelle Peace, associate professor department of forensic science, Virginia Commonwealth University; Kevin Sabet, president, SAM ; Steve White, chief executive, Harvest Health & Recreation; Hope Wiseman, chief executive, Mary and Main.