Cannabis about to pass craft beer industry

CNN Business reports that despite the pandemic & its effect on supply chains plus ballooning inflation and an ongoing fight to legalize marijuana on a federal level, the cannabis industry in America is flourishing:

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. The nearly $46 billion in sales would make the cannabis industry larger than the craft beer industry, said Chris Walsh, chief executive officer and president of MJBizDaily. (see our article on Michigan’s dramatic 2021 sales growth)

These are potentially conservative numbers with what we see playing out,” Walsh said during the kickoff to the three-day event.

Snowballing US sales shouldn’t come as a surprise. At this point, the majority of Americans live in a state where some form of cannabis is legal. 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.

…The industry is also expanding rapidly and creating jobs, said Karson Humiston, CEO and founder of Vangst, which runs a cannabis industry-centric job recruiting site.

It’s estimated that there were 321,000 full-time jobs in the cannabis industry in 2020, up from 234,700 the year before, according to a report released earlier this year from Leafly and Whitney Economics.

“Take a look around,” Humiston said, gesturing to bustling crowds in the exposition hall. “People want to get out of their old-school, dying industry, and they want to move into cannabis. This is it. Now is the moment to get involved, because it’s never going to be this small again.”

Lots more from CNN & kudos to the cannabis business for (apparently) being just what the doctor ordered.

photo credit: Real Leaf staff at Botanical Co Kalkaska opening by @realleafsolutions on Instagram