Marijuana industry lighting up

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This article was published 07/01/2017 (3374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While some activists are planning to give away marijuana on Inauguration Day, other entrepreneurs are taking a different approach: making a ton of money from it.

According to Governing.com, 29 states and the District of Columbia have or will soon have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. Use of recreational marijuana is legal in eight states. As its popularity has grown, so have profits. In 2016, sales of legal marijuana in North America totalled US$6.7 billion — an increase of more than 30 per cent — according to a report from Arcview Market Research. That number is projected to rise to US$20.2 billion by 2021. In Canada, the Liberal government is expected to table legislation legalizing recreational marijuana use this spring.

Debra Borchardt, who covers retail and cannabis for Forbes, contends that the growth is larger and faster than even the dot-com era.

Growth is being fuelled by the rising popularity of marijuana-infused concentrates and edibles. But what’s not included in these numbers is the billions being generated by indirect industries that are also profiting from the cannabis boom, including those that sell accessories, machinery and equipment, pesticides and real state. For entrepreneurs, investors and opportunists, the marijuana industry could be a new dot-com boom.

— Washington Post