When members of the cannabis industry descended upon Las Vegas last week for the biggest trade show in the business, there was something stirring in the air.
Sales hit $20 billion in 2020, are on pace to top $26 billion this year, and are projected to leapfrog to $45.9 billion in 2025, according to data from Marijuana Business Daily that were shared at the MJBizCon, the industry’s annual trade show.
More than two-thirds of US states have legalized medical cannabis, of those, 18 have legalized cannabis for recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Indeed, the cannabis industry got a pandemic-era boost from consumers flush with stimulus money, people forced to stay home with little to do, and dispensaries in certain states being deemed essential businesses.
But the past 12 to 18 months show there is more to the story than a Covid bump, Walsh said.
Not long ago, quarter of a billion dollar deals were few and far between in this business.
“People want to get out of their old-school, dying industry, and they want to move into cannabis.
On Capitol Hill, the whispers of federal marijuana reform and legalization have grown into a clamor.
Because marijuana is considered a Schedule I substance, some financial institutions have been reluctant to serve the industry — leaving operators with the inability to get small business loans, pandemic relief, insurance and disaster aid.
“I agree that it’s an uphill slog to see federal legalization, but what we’re putting on the table is inevitability,” Steven Hawkins, CEO of the US Cannabis Council and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said during a MJBizCon panel on federal legalization.