Is The Cannabis Market Growing In The US?
Contributor Since 2013
I am a freelance writer living and working on the internet from my home in Jamaica. I enjoy reading and writing. I am a active stockholder of well-known stocks in my country. Sometimes I buy international stocks as well but not many.
While there is a split about whether it is right to legalize cannabis still raging worldwide, still, in some places of the world the product is being used. In places where persons use the drug, the sale of the product is growing big time and this leaves the question in everyone's mind if the market for the highly discussed drug is growing and at what rate. In the past, the US has passed laws legalizing the use of the drug in some states.
In the US, legal marijuana is competing strongly with the tobacco and e-cigarette industries. Presently, the marijuana industry is considered one of the leading industries in the country and there is no sign of it slowing down. In fact, experts are predicting it might start selling more than organic food does.
With the increased demand generated from US consumers, farmers of cannabis seeds are trying their best to supply the already growing market. To boost efficiency and grow healthy plants, new technology is being considered to help growers become more efficient. This can be accomplished as tech investors are now moving in to the market.
Since 2014, the cannabis market grew 74% and is expecting to grow even bigger. Analysts are of the opinion that it will grow 32% by the end of 2015. In 2013, it was valued $1.5 billion but in 2014, it reached $2.7 billion. Not all states have legalized the product and this might be the reason why the growth of the industry has not yet reached its full potential. However, as more states in the US are considering legalizing the item and if this plan goes through, revenue is expected to climb much higher. As 2019 approaches, experts are predicting that if all states legalize the product, then the industry should rise to about $11 billion, which would make marijuana one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the country.
California's legal marijuana market is already $1.3 billion. In 2014, Arizona's market stood at $155 million and growing fast. In 2013, it was $120 million less. In Washington and Colorado alone, $370 million in sales took place last year. Alaska and Oregon that had just recently joined in the trade are expected to sell around $275 million combined together.
So what outlets do people use to buy the product? Consumers mostly buy the drug from dispensaries in the states where it is legal to smoke. Others buy it illegally under the counter in some businesses in states where it is not yet legalized. Overall, people in the US use pot for either medical reasons or recreational purposes.
As the cannabis industry continues to boom in some states, other places in the US are slackening their drug laws, maybe in the hope of legalizing the drug there in the near future. So far, the organic food industry is doing well in the US and thus is earning top revenue. However, if all 50 states should legalize cannabis, it would grow into a much bigger market that of the organic food niche.
With the boom of the cannabis industry happening, the US economy can take advantage of tax revenues that the industry will pump into the country. With such a lucrative industry making waves in the country, jobs can be provided, thus, cutting down the large unemployment rate that is presently affecting the US.
In the past when the drug was not legal to buy, people would still purchase it, even if they had to hide to do so. Since being legalized in some states, consumers are now using it freely and this is what is driving the industry onwards.