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NYT: Legal Marijuana Sales Hit $5.4 Billion in 2015

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P

Protein

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/b...es-2015-report.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

It’s not just heat lamps in closets and nickel bags anymore: Marijuana is getting some respect as legal sales take off.

This week two marijuana analysis and investment firms released a summary of a report that appeared to confirm that the industry has become a gold rush. National legal sales of cannabis grew to $5.4 billion in 2015, up from $4.6 billion in 2014, according to the firms, the ArcView Group, based in San Francisco, and New Frontier, based in Washington.

Demand is expected to remain strong this year, with a forecast of $6.7 billion in legal sales, the report said.


The promises and headwinds of the industry are potentially far-reaching and attracting notice on Wall Street. As more states legalize marijuana sales, analysts are weighing the stock market benefits of new businesses as cannabis goes corporate. Funds are considering the ethics of investing in marijuana. Parents are even debating whether to allow their children to buy the stocks.

And say goodbye to the common resealable bags and heat lamps in the closet. Lucrative legal side businesses are spinning off, like the climate systems for growers built by a company in Boulder, Colo., and the FunkSac odor-proof and child-resistant marijuana bags produced in Denver.

“There is still a certain stigma around it,” said Brandy Keen, a co-founder of Surna, which makes technology for indoor cultivation. “This is an industry that came out of the basement. It grew out of closets and basements and hidden facilities in cinder-block buildings.”

Nonmedicinal adult use accounted for $998 million of the total sales in 2015, up from $351 million in 2014, according to the ArcView/New Frontier report summary. The estimates are based partly on state tax receipts and data on medical and recreational sales.

The report summary said that by 2020, legal market sales were forecast to be $21.8 billion.

The summary, released before a full report scheduled for the end of February, was one of the latest by market analysts to scrutinize the emerging marijuana industry. Merrill Lynch said in a report cited by Philly.com in December that it expected the cannabis market and associated testing technologies to grow if legalized.

GreenWave Advisors said in its latest annual report in November that it estimated revenues of $4.8 billion in 2015, compared with about $3.2 billion in 2014. It expects further growth in 2016 and a “surge” in 2017 and 2018.

The latest report defined three types of legal marijuana use: adult recreational use; medical use of cannabis; and medicinal use of a cannabis product from which the compound that gets a consumer high has been extracted.

It said 2016 would be the “tipping point” at which a majority of states transition from cannabis prohibition to some form of regulated legal market.

John Kagia, New Frontier’s director of industry analytics, said he has spoken at investment meetings about legal marijuana where it was “standing room only” with investors trying to “figure out angles” given the regulatory climate.

Four states and the District of Columbia allow full adult use, and this year, seven more will vote on allowing it: California, Nevada, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Twenty-three states already permit medical cannabis use, and four others — Florida, Ohio, Missouri and Pennsylvania — are positioned to advance medical laws, the report said.

Some federal regulatory barriers are easing, and federal interest in research into medical marijuana use is growing. But there are headwinds, the report cautioned.

Cannabis businesses face a higher tax burden. They are also unable to use banks because of federal laws, which can hinder efficiency and pose security risks, forcing the businesses to invest heavily in security measures. Increased competition across state lines could pose new challenges as more states legalize the trade.

Marijuana stocks underperformed on the market in 2015 compared with the Nasdaq and Standard & Poor’s indexes, tempering some of the enthusiasm of investors, the report said.

Legalization is also a hot topic of national debate, making the industry vulnerable in an election year.

“Though public opinion is shifting toward embracing cannabis reform, presidential candidates are more reticent to support legalization,” the report said.

The plant’s business potential has deep and roots, as the rapper Snoop Dogg, the country singer Willie Nelson and the actor Tommy Chong have demonstrated by leveraging their celebrity status to establish new brands in the market, the report noted.
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S

Saucycarpdog

Member
I would think states would be rushing to legalize it, how much money could they put into their coffers by taxing such a profitable item?
 
M

Maintenance

Member
giphy.gif
 
B

Boke1879

Member
Just make it legal everywhere. If people could buy this shit like cigarettes it's literally free money for the state.
 
R

RobotHaus

Unconfirmed Member
That's insane. I'm curious, hour would something like this affect any sorry if drug related crime? I imagine there'd be less of it, but certainly people will think of this as a gateway to grander issues.
 
M

Man God

Non-Canon Member
It's one of the easiest plants in the world to grow. People in legal states are wasting a lot of money.
 
T

Third Strike

Member
PeakPointMatrix said:
Oh right, there's absurd amounts of money to be made.

Watch marijuana become legal nation-wide faster than it took gay marriage.
Click to expand...

It will. It's hard to make a argument against marijuana, especially since you can't use religion as a reason against it. I still don't see many or any of the southern states legalizing it anytime soon, especially since many of these states still have restrictions against alcohol sales in certain counties.
 
K

Kas

Member
Not going to pass ever in NH with Hassan in office. She's super opposed to it in all forms, even medical.
 
J

JCX

Member
Man God said:
It's one of the easiest plants in the world to grow. People in legal states are wasting a lot of money.
Click to expand...

Eh it's probably a convenience thing. Also not all areas are good for growing year round outside unless you want to invest in indoor growing and pay higher electricity costs.
 
M

Man God

Non-Canon Member
JCX said:
Eh it's probably a convenience thing. Also not all areas are good for growing year round outside unless you want to invest in indoor growing and pay higher electricity costs.
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Outside of parts of Alaska the growing season is long enough through the entire country to get a years supply done, with tons to spare. To be fair though I forgot about people who live in cities, who would have to indoor grow unless they had sufficient gardening space.
 
Tesseract

Tesseract

Banned
Third Strike said:
It will. It's hard to make a argument against marijuana, especially since you can't use religion as a reason against it. I still don't see many or any of the southern states legalizing it anytime soon, especially since many of these states still have restrictions against alcohol sales in certain counties.
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Florida will, well, soon as we Get Rid of dick Scott
 
M

Makai

Member
The bit about presidential candidates being reluctant to support it - calling it now, Donald Trump announces he is in favor of legalization in the general. :V

Hillary is opposed and would be forced to flipflop.
 
K

Kas

Member
Third Strike said:
Wiki says she signed a law in 2014 allowing patients access to medical marijuana.
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Correct. And dispenseries are just opening now. PCPS weren't able to do anything about until a few months ago as well. She has been vocal every step of the way against it and that there needs to be more research and think of the kids.


Howerver, NH also has a huge opiate crisis going on now, so that may be swaying her opinion.
 
A

aspiegamer

Member
Makai said:
The bit about presidential candidates being reluctant to support it - calling it now, Donald Trump announces he is in favor of legalization in the general. :V

Hillary is opposed and would be forced to flipflop.
Click to expand...
Fully legal nationwide doesn't have enough support yet, and probably won't for another 2 cycles until a party takes it up as part of the platform. Maaaaaaybe 2020 for the Democrats if things pick up on the state level to where inevitability is apparent like it was with gay marriage in the past few years.

Clinton has advocated taking it off Schedule 1 to permit open medicinal research and use, allowed states to legalize, and not prosecuting persons/banks in legal states (which Obama has already implemented). Even Republicans can't really complain because of the "states' rights" nature of it.
 
jadedm17

jadedm17

Member
FuturamaFryTakeMyMoney.gif

TAKE. MY. MONEY.

One day....

makingmusic476 said:
I hate how the obvious inevitability of nationwide legalization is still going to take years.
Click to expand...

Right? I'm paying ridiculous taxes, putting money into a retirement fund not promised to still exist when I retire, our school system is ridiculous, college and sports even more-so, banks and big companies are still messed up, we're still treating minorities like assholes and cops continue to do absurd things every single day....
AND I CAN'T EVEN GET LEGALLY HIGH!?!?
I'm drunk, sorry for the rambling.
 
Tesseract

Tesseract

Banned
Once it's legalized in Florida, I'm retiring to the Everglades

Smoke weed every day on my airboat, with my frog legs, and alligator mcnuggies

Let's build a gaf compound, and live there forever, building upon automation and exploring dank memes inside our third eye
 
D

Daingurse

Member
Tesseract said:
Once it's legalized in Florida, I'm retiring to the Everglades

Smoke weed every day on my airboat, with my frog legs, and alligator mcnuggies

Let's build a gaf compound, and live there forever, building upon automation and exploring dank memes inside our third eye
Click to expand...

Would be in for the weed and alligator nuggets. That's a good combo.
 
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