What wouldn’t you give to put your money in a business that grew 74 percent in one year? There is such a business, the fastest-growing business in the nation: selling marijuana legally.
The investment firm ArcView Group, which also performs cannabis research, claims in its State of Legal Marijuana Markets that the legal marijuana business skyrocketed 74 percent in 2014, from sales of $1.5 billion in 2013 to $2.7 billion in 2014. The report states that California, Colorado, Washington, Arizona and Michigan have all seen their markets grow to more than $100 million, and that Colorado, which led the way as the first active adult use market, sold $805 million worth of marijuana in retail and wholesale.
Troy Dayton, ArcView Group CEO, informed the readers of the company’s report:
In the last year, the rise of the cannabis industry went from an interesting cocktail conversation to being taken seriously as the fastest growing industry in America. At this point, it’s hard to imagine that any serious businessperson who is paying attention hasn’t spent some time thinking about the possibilities in this market.
In 2014, Oregon and Alaska passed ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana. The Marijuana Policy Project spent $700,000 to help the Yes on Ballot Measure 2 campaign measure pass in Alaska. In Oregon, the Drug Policy Alliance, gave at least $780,000 pas ballot measure 91. Bob Marley announced the creation of Marley Natural, which was backed with $50 million dollars in private equity.
Meanwhile, Project SAM, an anti-legalization group, started fighting the battle, and Sheldon Adelson gave $6 million to Drug Free Florida, which blocked legalization of marijuana in the Sunshine State. In December, the attorneys general of Nebraska and Oklahoma sued Colorado, claiming that Colorado’s legal marijuana is crossing state lines.
The Pew Research Center has reported that 65 percent of millennials support legalization.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.