Will the Marijuana Industry Keep Growing?

There is no denying it: there has been some major growth in the marijuana industry in recent years. But how long can this sustain itself? And will the industry keep growing even now? The fact is, it will. And we’re here to tell you how we know that.

Marijuana: More popular than alcohol

Is there anything that could truly be more popular than alcohol? It’s hard to say, but at least for a few months in Aspen, Colorado, this was indeed the case. More marijuana was bought than alcohol out on the slopes during spring of last year, showing a distinct sign that marijuana is gaining in popularity and won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

The greatest sales in marijuana came in March (Spring Break month), getting up to just $2,000 short of one million dollars in sales. As the weather warmed up, the sales cooled off, but nonetheless, weed outsold alcohol the following month too. Aspen sold $8.3 million in medical and recreational marijuana, pulling in an extra two hundred thousand dollars in just taxes and fees alone.

Celebrity endorsement

While certain celebrities have always been known for their love of weed, the industry is starting to shine the spotlight on a new kind of celebrity — the type of person who is famous for their work, and not for loving weed.

One such example is Mindy Segal of Chicago. She owns the place called Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, and her cookbook “Cookie Love” won all sorts of awards. Not only that, but she even received the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Pastry Chef award a few years back. Now, she’s broadening her horizons even more by teaming up with Cresco Labs to create pastries and sweets infused with marijuana. With Cresco’s extraction of the THC and other marijuana-related ingredients and Segal’s superior pastry skills, the two will create some amazing products.

What kind of products can we expect? Everything from granola bites to hot chocolate to boxed cookie and cake mixes to chocolate brittle bars! Segal is proud of being known as an authority figure of sorts in the baking industry, and she’s trying to show people that the marijuana industry isn’t as scary as it might seem. And this is not the only instance of a celebrity getting together with a marijuana company — we can expect to see much more in this growing trend.

Mexican drug cartels don’t like it

Because there is far more domestic marijuana being produced in the United States, far less marijuana is being brought up from our southern border. To show it clearly: in 2009, there were almost four million pounds of marijuana from Mexico seized at the border. In 2014, this number dropped to just 1.5 million. The Mexican pot industry certainly is not doing well as the American pot industry booms.

The marijuana farmers in Mexico are getting paid less per kilogram of pot harvested, only furthering the signs that the marijuana industry in the States is growing without any plans to stop. It is, of course, unfortunate that the hard working farmers in the Mexican fields are being punished for this, there are some positives to it: this marijuana was being brought to the States with the dangerous and violent Mexican drug cartels — if they are losing money, it is ultimately a good thing.

Of course, it will take a lot more than a rise in the marijuana industry to knock down the top dogs of the Mexican drug cartels. But in any case, it is a sign that there is a significant increase in the American marijuana industry, and that it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The economics of marijuana are extremely positive

It is estimated that retail sales of legal marijuana are going to get up to $11 billion by the year 2020. Last year it was already at around $4 billion, and that’s when there are still major roadblocks to the legalization of marijuana in the majority of the country. If the industry continues as projected, there might be a $44 billion economic impact by the year 2020.

What does such a huge economic impact mean? The key to the figure is this: for every dollar spent on legal retail marijuana, three more dollars have a ripple effect on the economy: revenue for the government, businesses in the marijuana industry, the creation of more jobs, and the rise in tourism are all included in this impact. In other words, the state and the country’s economy are going to get a lot more out of it than you might expect.

This guest post was written by Robert Bergman, founder of ilovegrowingmarijuana.com. Robert has been passionately exploring and experimenting with cannabis seeds for over 20 years and shares these insights to help prospective growers get the most out of their plants. On top of that, Robert engages to fully liberate marijuana by offering his views in the political, social, market and industry area of our beloved plant.