Marijuana revenue blossoms across country
Trump’s perceived green light entices cannabis investors to spend billions
From coast to coast, legalization of marijuana is winning converts among skeptical law officers and politicians as new tax dollars pour into schools and help pay for infrastructure and drug treatment.
DENVER – America’s fast-growing marijuana industry appears poised for supercharged growth after winning what cannabis entrepreneurs see as approval from the Trump administration to forge ahead.
The market for legal marijuana already was growing exponentially despite fears of a federal crackdown under President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but Trump’s signal that he’ll respect state legalization could swing open the floodgates by reassuring traditional investors, entrepreneurs and local lawmakers it’s OK to jump in.
Across the nation, risk-takers have poured billions of dollars into the industry while knowing they could be arrested by federal agents at any moment.
They’ve built — largely unseen — a powerful network of businesses poised to take advantage of a more favorable federal climate. That industry already has woven itself into the fabric of the states where pot is legal, providing tens of thousands of jobs and generating billions of dollars in new tax revenue.
Experts say those numbers are likely to rise rapidly thanks to Trump’s promised hands-off approach and support of some sort of federal solution.
“Every day we wake up and build this industry. And every day we do that, it’s a little harder to shut it down,” said Daniel
Yi, a spokesman for the Californiabased marijuana powerhouse MedMen.
There’s no denying America’s love affair with marijuana is accelerating across the nation as voters loosen laws and grow increasingly comfortable with a drug that has been forbidden for generations. Today, more than 60% of Americans believe marijuana should be legal, double its popularity in 2000, according to a January 2018 poll by the Pew Research Center.
But Trump’s acceptance of popular state legalization reflects the reality and power of this increasingly important industry. Across the country, cannabis legalization is transforming communities in ways big and small, winning many converts among skeptical cops and local politicians as new tax dollars pour into schools and scholarships, pay for road paving and drug treatment, and, if advocates have their way, lift minority communities devastated by the war on drugs.
“It’s really fun to see people’s minds change,” said Jen Lujan of the California-based marijuana firm Eaze.
Marijuana’s economic impact has helped keep the focus on the positives of legalization. Though most supporters agree marijuana taxes haven’t been the boon many expected, the industry’s economic power is undeniable.
At least 121,000 people are working directly in the nation’s home-grown marijuana industry, tending plants, trimming leaves and selling cannabis products to eager consumers, according to BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research. For comparison, there are fewer than 50,000 coal miners, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nine states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Vermont and Washington, along with Washington, D.C. — have legalized recreational pot use, although not all of them permit and tax sales. States selling pot have collected more than $1.6 billion in taxes since their legalization programs began, and California’s launch of legal sales this year is expected to supercharge that number.
Medical and recreational cannabis sales will hit $11.7 billion this year, predicts cannabis analytics firm New Frontier Data, and will increase by 25% in 2019 and hit $25 billion in seven years. For comparison, wine sales in the United States were worth $60 billion last year, according to the Beverage Information and Insights Group.
How the federal government acts could change that dramatically. The Obama administration had promised it would leave well-run state marijuana programs alone, but Sessions rescinded that promise in January, throwing the industry into chaos.
Many traditional investors have shied away from pouring their capital into the industry over fears they’d be treated like drug traffickers, and a strong sign of support from Trump on congressional action might provide the reassurance they’re seeking.