Legalization & Proliferation

Politics, Taxes &

Elimination of Hurdles

Marketing

Legal cannabis sales in the US currently generate over $20 billion per year according to research firm, Frontier New Data. States where recreational cannabis sales are not legal must watch their citizens drive across their State line to purchase the highly taxed commodity, or, they must legalize it. Only 13 US states currently enjoy the taxable revenues of legalized recreational use cannabis which is why proliferation of the legalized cannabis industry is beginning to accelerate. According to New Frontier Data, the $20 billion flourishing industry is on its way to $41.5 billion within five years reflecting a 21% CAGR.

Several Federal Legislative Bills, which will remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, are in the pipeline and gaining traction. Passage of these Bills represent the potential to open up traditional business, banking, and finance, networks. Conventional debt and equity markets will quickly jump on the accelerated growth opportunity which will add fuel to the fire.  Additionally, the Bills allow for generally accepted tax deductions for business expenses which will greatly expand the operating margins for dispensaries and cultivators. 

Advertising and marketing channels are currently limited in the cannabis industry. However, as Bills are passed and reform happens, the industry will be further fueled by saavy marketing experts who will then be able to reach potential customers directly, daily, and quickly, and will develop and deploy conventional database and loyalty programs that will further accelerate industry growth.

2020 was a momentous year for marijuana law reform, from a clean sweep of ballot initiatives to legalize cannabis on Election Day to the historic passage of the MORE Act in the US House of Representatives.  Early in 2021, three additional states legalized marijuana for adult-use. These wins demonstrated that support for legalization extends across geographic and demographic lines. The success of these ballot initiatives proves definitively that marijuana legalization is not exclusively a ‘blue’ state issue, but an issue that is supported by a majority of all Americans — regardless of party politics. The approval of the MORE Act by the full House of Representatives, the first time in history a full chamber of Congress ever debated and voted in favor of marijuana law reform legislation of this scale, shows that our political support is growing in tandem with public sentiment. Now, with the Democrats in control of the Executive Branch, House, and Senate, significant marijuana reform seems possible this year.