High Expectations for Business of Marijuana

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/08/24/high-expectations-for-business-of-marijuana/

As marijuana prohibition falls in one state after another, cannabis sales are shifting from street corners to storefronts as opportunists line up to cash in on what optimists say is the biggest investment opportunity since the dot-com boom of the turn of the century.

Investors of all varieties are starting to look at marijuana as less of a stoner’s fad and more of a serious business venture. The industry totaled $2.66 billion in U.S. sales in 2014, up 74 percent from $1.53 billion the year before, according to the ArcView Group, a cannabis industry investment network. Experts expect billions more in future growth from states where the drug remains illegal – for the time being.

Business insiders said they expect the market to expand to many times its present size as more states legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use. The cannabis trade has not only brought in millions for dispensary owners and cultivators, it’s also created a thriving ancillary market, driven job growth and boosted property values, marijuana advocates claim.

But the challenges are many for the kind of high-risk, high-reward investment that cannabis calls for. No industry since post-Prohibition alcohol has come close to having had a harder time getting off the ground, from strict regulation and heavy taxation to a lack of investors and banking services.

“A lot of people look at the cannabis industry and say, ‘Oh my God, it’s so much harder. (There are) so many barriers … You’ve got endless problems,’” said Troy Dayton, CEO of the ArcView Group. “Well, some people see endless problems. Other people see endless problems disappearing fairly soon and see this as a great investment.”

[imthevicar]

1. The current legal pain med options leave me with one opinion,

Prohibition can't end soon enough!

[eridani]

2. I know a lot of people don't like to hear medical MJ pain stories--

--but society MUST get these stories constantly shoved in our collective faces.

[imthevicar]

3. I was a regular toker for well over 28 years,

I don't Drink I never like the way Alcohol made me feel. MJ relives My tension, Pain and Screw the Puritans here and everywhere, I happen to like the Buzz! But I was forced to quit for "Work reasons", (Damn all Drug warriors)! A short time after, that's When Sever back pain forced me to consult several DR.'s. They discovered I have a Scoliosis, Not something Slight But a real mess in my lumbar.
My Conversation with the specialist went like this, " How you worked for A living Mr. .... Is beyond me." "If I told you How DR. you wouldn't believe me". (or worse, you'd shun me.) Now I have pain Meds that are a much worse option, Than just being a stoner. Of course I Know Some Folks steeped in the ''Reefer Madness Propaganda'' find My Pain as funny, They can piss off. My only option now is, I will be forced retire on disability, toss out the Prescription and Go back to what I know works!