This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission
An 88% of U.S. adults say that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults. Only 10% say marijuana use should not be legal. Despite this, legalization to bring it to a similar level of control and distribution of alcohol is dragging.
Senator Chuck Schumer’s Safe Banking Act is still stuck in Congress. New York botched their recreational rollout, costing the industry $3.5 billion in legal revenue. And New York has over 1,500 unlicensed dispensaries in New York City alone, proving there is a very robust market. California continues to grapple with political greed with high tax burdens on legal companies and a blind eye to the black market.
The industry itself is having problems with costly indoor grows needing high returns but the market doesn’t want to pay an all-premium all the time price. The lesson could have been observed from the beer industry, but people didn’t learn.
Despite these headwinds, consumers are turning more and more to cannabis and legal states are having robust sales. And the younger general is turning to marijuana more than alcohol. And now for more good …