After decades of strict control, the recent widespread realization of the cannabis plant’s many uses has resulted in a massive surge for the legal cannabis industry in the USA and the whole of North America. While 2018 was the biggest and most revolutionary year for cannabis due to more reasons than one, 2019 is expected by experts to be the year in which the industry will capitalize on the achievements of 2018. According to cannabis analysis firm New Frontier Data, investments in the legal cannabis industry of the North American continent will easily cross $16 billion. Taking a closer look at the boom reveals some of the important details regarding the business situation in the North American legal cannabis trade.
Investments Doubled in 2018
Marijuana was legalized in the three Republican states of Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah in the US, while pot was made legal in all of Canada, which meant that the investments would come pouring in, and they did. A total of $10 billion+ was put into the legal cannabis industry by investors in the North American continent last year, which was not just more than the total amount invested in the last three years, but even more than double what was invested between the years 2015 – 2017. These numbers first matched and then exceeded all previous expectations. Be it medical marijuana, CBD supplements or recreational marijuana use, a major portion of North America now has cannabis related business in some form or the other.
The Growth of CBD Supplements
CBD, or cannabidiol supplements, have been popular even before all this because of the cannabis derived ingredient’s multiple health benefits and non-psychoactive nature. However, the cannabis revolution of 2018 opened the floodgates even further for the CBD industry. In particular, it opened the doors of all-American, wholesale CBD manufacturers like copecbd.com to a huge number of previously closed markets. New and old manufacturers of CBD oil and other cannabidiol supplements could now source high-grade, organic cannabis right from within the United States, negating the need for trading with foreign cannabis farms, which incurred huge duties. The superior quality and easy availability of hemp will also play a huge role in boosting the cannabis business this year and even more so in the future years.
The Problem of Illegal Cannabis
While cannabis may have been legalized to a great degree in certain parts of North America, it has not halted the illegal marijuana trade. In fact, market analysis shows that the availability of unregulated, low-grade and cheap marijuana from illegal sources across North America is eating into the profit and growth of the legal marijuana business. In addition to that, the strict and archaic nature of federal laws controlling marijuana is another obstacle which is currently hampering the legal cannabis business more than it is harming the black-market trades.
In spite of obstacles, the future of the legal cannabis business looks brighter than it has ever been before. Given how extensively the trade is growing in North America, it would be surprising if the total investment amount doesn’t exceed the $16 billion mark as predicted.
