Cannabis has proven to be one of the most resilient and profitable products on the market in recent years. Despite being barely more than a decade old, America’s state-legal cannabis industry has generated billions of dollars in revenue and created hundreds of thousands of job opportunities.
The industry’s rise has been so prolific that cannabis has been dubbed the fastest-growing industry in the United States. However, profits in the state-legal market haven’t been spread equally among participating markets, with some states seeing a lion’s share of the industry’s profits. Colorado, for instance, was among the first states in the cannabis industry to launch legal cannabis markets a decade ago.
Ten years later, the state reports that its marijuana industry has generated an astounding $13.4 billion in sales and provided the state with $2.2 billion in taxes. Brian Vicente, codirector of the campaign that pushed for the legalization of cannabis in Colorado, says that the industry has been an “unqualified success.”
Colorado’s move to legalize cannabis had a domino effect across the country, leading other state leaders to examine their own cannabis policies and launch cannabis markets. Mason Tvert, another codirector, stated that the passage of Amendment 64 inspired plenty of discussion on cannabis policies and caused both U.S. and foreign leaders to take another look at their marijuana policies. Seventeen states as well as the District of Columbia legalized cannabis in the years after Oregon and Washington State approved legalization initiatives, and Tvert says many states leveraged the campaign and policy playbook that activists had first used in Colorado.
Passing Amendment 64 was a herculean task for the activists and lawmakers behind the initiative. Vicente and Tver began building support for cannabis reform in the mid-2000s, running into consistent resistance and opposition. Their first attempt at passing a legalization initiative failed at the polls, with Vicente saying that the issue of cannabis legalization faced “robust and stern opposition” from nearly every level of the government.
Even so, the activists behind Amendment 64 credit lawmakers for implementing the bill once it was approved by voters. The amendment allowed Colorado to generate billions of dollars in revenue and created thousands of new jobs. More importantly, the taxes levied on cannabis sales have been used to fund public schools or have gone to Colorado’s marijuana fund, where it is then used to fund different programs in health education, healthcare, law enforcement, treatment programs and substance-abuse prevention.
All these achievements in Colorado and elsewhere in the country have been realized despite the industry lacking access to mainstream lending and instead turning to alternative financing sources such as REZYFi Inc. in a bid to bridge the funding gaps as they grow or expand.
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CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.
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