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A trade deal signed earlier this year has brought much needed investment from an unlikely ally.

Edibles have been the breakout star of cannabis legalization — but drinkables could offer a whole new kind of high

About a year ago, when Lyden Henderson took a sip of a nonalcoholic, cannabis-infused beer, he discovered something was amiss: The beverage was chunky — bits of cannabis floated throughout the beer, creating an unpleasant consistency. “It tasted kind of like I was drinking milk that had been sitting in the refrigerator for two or three months,” Henderson says. “It had the worst texture.

The coronavirus crisis could be igniting a revolution of sorts in the legal cannabis industry.

Thirty-three states across the U.S. allow for some form of sale and consumption of marijuana. And of those, more than 20 states have designated the cannabis industry as essential during the coronavirus outbreak.

While advocates are applauding many of the interim marijuana laws, they also say those laws exposes dangerous disparities among states.

The United States has had a long, complex relationship with cannabis legalization. While it's still illegal at a federal level, individual states have been decriminalizing and legalizing cannabis since the 1970s (in the case of Alaska), with increasing momentum driven in recent decades by advocates for medical marijuana.

The sector was already shaky before COVID-19, but companies must now have the right mix of cash, pot and sales channels to make it to the other side

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, cannabis stocks had plummeted from fattened valuations as they failed to find promised profit and seemed at risk of bankruptcy. The global pandemic has made the situation even worse, and investors now are looking for companies that will simply survive.

The coronavirus outbreak has put weed legalization — a movement that has made considerable strides in recent years with 11 states now allowing recreational marijuana and 33 permitting medical cannabis —  on the back burner in states around the country, as politicians focus their efforts on combating the epidemic and the future of ballot referendums on the issue is thrown in the balance due to social distancing guidelines.

Marijuana legalization in Mexico looks hazy this year. While the country planned to legalize marijuana in October 2019, issues came up. After a lot of deadline extensions, the country was ready to legalize marijuana by the end of April 2020. However, the Mexican Supreme Court has extended the deadline again. The new deadline is partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. cannabis CEOs say the chances for federal marijuana legalization will dramatically increase in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, after several states declared dispensaries essential businesses, allowing them to remain open during stay-at-home orders aimed at halting the spread of the virus. 

CNBC spoke with the leaders of U.S. based cannabis producers Cresco Labs, Curaleaf and Green Thumb Industries as well as cannabis investor Matt Hawkins about the state of the industry ahead of April 20, also known as “4/20,” the unofficial holiday for recreational cannabis users.

As the global economy takes a COVID-19-triggered downturn, what can the cannabis industry expect?

Is cannabis recession-proof? Many industry experts have weighed in with a resounding "Yes!" But is this entirely realistic or just wishful thinking? The nascent cannabis industry may come out of the pandemic in better shape than many others, but it's likely to go through a period of significant transition.

The cannabis community is finding creative ways to celebrate the biggest day in weed while under stay-at-home orders

While COVID-19 cases peak and stay-at-home orders remain in place, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is advising cannabis consumers with access to legal weed to