The November 2016 election will determine not only the 45th president of the United States but also the future of legalized marijuana in nine more states. If passed, five states will allow recreational marijuana, bringing the total to nine and the District of Columbia. There are currently 28 states with laws allowing the use of medical marijuana and four states are including legalization of pot’s medical use in the November ballot.
Legal cannabis sales is projected to be the one of the fastest growing industries in the US. A report of ArcView Market Research showed a 26% jump in sales from 2015 to this year. In 2014, its medical and recreational consumer expenditures reached $4.6 billion. It climbed to $5.7 billion in 2015 and is expected to go higher in 2016 at $7.1 billion. But it is the legal adult recreational use of cannabis that is responsible for the sales catapulting to a record high.
Business has taken notice and responded accordingly. There are around 700 stores in Colorado where one can buy pot for recreational and medical use. In 2015, medical marijuana dispensaries in California numbered about 1,250 and sales hit $2.7 billion. If or when Prop 64, the state’s initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, gets a “Yes” vote, expect more stores to open.
Many analysts see the California vote as a determining factor for the federal decriminalization of cannabis, which until now is classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Celebrities are not to be outdone in capitalizing on marijuana’s popularity and the possibility of it becoming legal to use. Known for loving the high these herbs give, they have cashed in on it as a lucrative enterprise as well. Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have partnered with Colorado-based businessmen to have their personal line of weed products sold in the Centennial State where adult use of the weed for recreation is legal. Actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Roseanne Barr have opened their own medical marijuana dispensaries. The family of Bob Marley has their own brand and store, too. Most celebrities who own cannabis businesses have a personal connection to marijuana and many have gotten into trouble with the police prior to its legalization.
The five states pushing for legal adult recreational use of marijuana already allow it for medical purposes. California expects an increase of $4 billion in sales if its proposition is passed in the ballot. It currently hits $2.7 billion a year for medical marijuana alone. Other states will likely see an increase in revenue once adult use becomes legal. Colorado, the poster child for legal use of pot, had sales of $270 million in the first quarter of 2016 alone. Washington and Oregon are flaunting their tax revenues from the cannabis industry.
Arizona hopes to emulate Colorado and get the same results as far as tax revenues go. If its Prop 205 is passed, it will permit the possession of up to 1 ounce of the weed and the growing of up to 6 plants in residences. Existing laws in Arizona classify all marijuana offenses (except for its medical use, which is legal) as a felony and you will need a really good drug defense attorney to represent you if you are caught in possession of the weed.
A Gallup poll found that the number of Americans supporting marijuana legalization for adults is rising and will continue to do so. As the American mindset shifts more favorably towards cannabis, with 75% of millennials backing its recreational use, the projected sales from the pot business is anywhere from $20 to $40 billion by 2020.
