What was that ban out of curiosity? Also, is there a name for this profession?
The ban? Schedule one medicine prohibited scientific research of those plants and chemicals. It wasn't until the presidency changed that, by turning a blind eye to it instead of enforcing it. The idea is if states legalize, then research should be legally allowed as well.
Where I live all of this is legal, so it's where most of the research was happening. It's legal in more places in the US today, so for all I know research is happening now in more places.
What states have done is they legalize in the cities where the research is being done. (Or research follows where cities have legalized.)