Scott Powers
The national market for legal marijuana, both for medical and recreational uses, is now in the range of $4 billion in annual sales, an industry analyst told a national conference in Orlando Tuesday.
Chris Walsh, editorial director for Marijuana Business Daily, told hundreds gathered at the Marijuana Business Conference that his magazine’s surveys and data analysis indicate the market has more than doubled since 2013 and likely will double again by 2020.
“This year the rate of growth will slow down to 20-25 percent,” Walsh said. “But we’re pretty bullish on what’s going on in this industry.”
Walsh is one of the keynote speakers at the conference, which has drawn 3,000 participants from 49 states and six continents. They are gathered at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center.
Walsh cautioned that his economic estimates and projections are soft because, he said, there is no good data on the marijuana industry. In some states, such as California, there is virtually no credible data available and in others, the data is collected various ways, based on individual states’ laws. Much of what he reported comes from surveys his company has performed, he said.
It does not include Florida or other states that have limited medical marijuana legalization. Florida has legalized medical products drawn from cannabis that has low, non-euphoric levels of THC, or higher THC levels for a limited pool of patients. But none is for sale yet.
Not including Florida or states like it, Walsh said 24 states plus the District of Columbia had legalized medical marijuana, while Washington and Colorado have legalized recreational marijuana.
In those states, Walsh described an industry that is highly profitable, with an estimated 21,000 direct and ancillary marijuana businesses, including at least 7,000 that “touch plants.”
Walsh estimated the median profit margin for producers is about 32 percent, though it is much lower for retailers. Nonetheless, he said 88 percent of the operating retailers surveyed reported they were at least breaking even after one year.
