Pot show drawing bigger crowds

Benefiting from legalization trend

The annual Las Vegas marijuana conference is growing.

Watered by a spigot of industry investment and expanding legalization around the the world, Mjbizcon is moving up the ranks of local trade shows.

The seventh annual conference, which kicks off Wednesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, will bring more than 25,000 industry professionals to town for three days of networking and dealmaking. More than 1,000 exhibitors will offer an array of industry services and products ranging from accounting software to extraction equipment.

The number of exhibitors this year has jumped almost 50 percent from 2017. Attendance has increased around 40 percent and has more than doubled since 2016, when the show was held at the Rio.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates the marijuana conference will generate

$22 million in economic impact for the town as hotel rooms fill up, restaurants are booked and exhibitors take over clubs around town to promote their cannabis-related products and brands.

“It has just been on an incredible rocket-ship growth trajectory,” said Cassandra Farrington, CEO and co-founder of Marijuana Business Daily, the Denver-based news outlet that organizes the conference.

North America legalization

The North American marijuana industry has been on fire in 2018.

Legal U.S. dispensaries are expected to ring up between $8 billion and $10 billion of medical and recreational

POT

sales this year, an increase of as much as 66 percent from 2017, Farrington said.

California, the most populous U.S. state, launched recreational sales in January. Last week Michigan became the 10th state to approve recreational sales, while Utah and Missouri increased the number of states permitting medical marijuana sales to 33.

Sales are expected to more than double to $22 billion by 2022 as more states legalize marijuana, according to Marijuana Business Daily. Nevada sales have beaten state expectations this year and are