There was a time when marijuana was shunned in America. Things are changed for this one-time illegal drug. Since it has proven to be great for various medical conditions, more states are legalizing it year after year. A poll conducted by Gallup Poll shows that 64% of the voters in the country are leaning towards the legalization of medical marijuana. This is when the federal government still classifies it as an illegal drug under schedule 1. This makes it to be on the same level as cocaine and heroin, which by far are the worst drugs in the world.
There has been more familiarity with pot over the years since more states are legalizing it. It has been estimated that 1 in every 6 Americans has smoked weed over the last two years or even at an earlier time in their life. This would mostly be during their teenage years when most would be trying to smoke some weed and see what happens.
Most states that have legalized the use of marijuana have done so for medical purposes rather than recreational. For most states, they have given their marijuana laws the parameters in which they can operate. You cannot just use medical marijuana because it is legalized, a few steps and regulations have to be followed first. Most of the time, the medical marijuana would be used for conditions such as cancer and other serious ailments mostly considered to have chronic pain. Well, pot was once seen as evil, but now it is heaven for many.
One thing that is being a concern is how the huge demand for having medical marijuana would have an effect on the local economies of those states. States such as California and Colorado have even legalized marijuana for recreational use. This has attracted those people who used to do business of selling pot on the black market to now on various streets in licensed stores. The move has also attracted venture capitalists who are looking to invest in marijuana as they see there is a potential in making money from cannabis.
Market research company ArchView has released a report showing how the marijuana industry has grown over the years. The report suggests that the industry grew to revenue of $6.9 billion in 2016. Such a value is 34% increase from the revenue the industry made in 2015. The best part is that the revenue from pot sales could reach $21 billion by 2021. Give it ten years and you should experience a 700% increase in what the industry is delivering today as revenue.
One industry that is also feeling the ripple effect is the real estate sector. Many investors are now choosing to revamp the industrial warehouses that were once dilapidated. They renovate them to make greenhouses so that they can grow cannabis in them. Any of the stores in the cities that are empty are now seen to be a good space for pot shops. What we can expect is that the property values are going to go up. In the near future when you need space for something else, it would be expensive because of increasing pot shops.
In some cities where pot is legalized, there is always a rush to get a storefront that will give you a chance to sell the desired pot. Companies involved in growing weed are now buying land for investing in more greenhouses. One such company is American Green Inc. it just bought the ghost-town of Nipton in California. The area bought spans over 120 acres, which should be enough space for setting up the company’s plan.
Not everyone is convinced that the rush to have a marijuana law in the various states is good. Some think it might end up being a giant bummer. For some observers, they are calling it the GreenRush. This simply means that more people are getting into the business without understanding how it works. If the law of economies of scale apply, some of the states licensing local firms to grow marijuana might just end up creating monopolies. Those companies who got their licenses first will easily edge out any competition. This is clearly seen in Colorado where the state government is no longer issuing new growing licenses. This means that the supply of the medical marijuana is left to only half dozen large scale marijuana suppliers.
In the short term, having the big business dominance can make the prices of weed to go down, but that can change in the future. The dominant companies could decide to price the product high and there is nothing that you can do as there is no competition then. Also restrictions on licenses could easily have the cheap black market for marijuana flourishing alongside the licensed market for marijuana. We can all speculate what will happen. Let us just hope it will not create a marijuana crisis in the future.
