If legalized nationwide, marijuana could become a $35 Billion dollar market by the year 2020. Analysts are believing that the marijuana industry could provide a needed boost to the American economy. Read more on the story after the jump!
An industry research firm called GreenWave Advisors, which has been tracking retail sales of marijuana in the states where recreational use is legal, have predicted that the legal pot industry could grow to $35 billion by the year 2020 if all 50 states legalized it. In Washington, marijuana revenue grew from $2 million for the first month of legalization to $31.9 million just this last June. The revenue gained a total of $180 million in the past 12 months. Colorado nearly doubled the amount and took in a total of $305 million in marijuana revenue in 2014.
Statewide recreational legalization in California will be up for vote on next year’s ballot. Analysts believe that if it is passed, it could lead the rest of the country toward full legalization. Steve Gormley of OSL Holdings, a consumer advocacy company says that California “is a tremendous market, with its proximity to Washington and Colorado…there is an advantage from a revenue standpoint of legalizing recreational, and we will start to see other states moving rapidly in the same direction.”
Leslie Bocskor of cannabis consulting firm Electrum Partners said, “This is an industry that is allowing people to come in and start businesses that they otherwise might not have been able to start…The events and pressures—pressure for regulation of markets, federal legality versus state legality—create a unique business environment never seen before.” Although some investors are still concerned about the fact that the drug is still federally prohibited, analysts expect that the market will continue to grow. “It will eventually plateau, but we still have a few years of growth…Growth begets growth.”
