Make no mistake: 2022 will be a pivotal year in cannabis. We are (cautiously) emerging from the pandemic as a stronger industry. The chaotic past two years tested cannabis’s recession mettle, and we proved remarkably durable. According to analytics firm BDSA, 2021 saw 41-percent year-over-year growth in global sales ($31 billion) and 38-percent growth from 2020 in the United States ($24 billion). Advertisement Without question, the cannabis industry is now international. With both Mexico and Germany announcing legalization in 2021, we’re expecting to see more nations move away from ineffective, prohibitive policies and toward medical and adult-use markets. At home, dueling bills from Democrats and Republicans may set the stage for a bipartisan federal legalization push on an issue about which 91 percent of Americans agree, according to an April poll by the Pew Research Center. More states east of the Mississippi are poised to transition from medical to adult use, and the shift could start to chip away at California’s long-held dominance as the gold standard for brands, bud, and operations. American multistate operators (MSOs) have continued to increase revenue, margins, and profit as they stake out their territories and establish their playbooks for the coming years.
mg Magazine – Cannabis News & Information, 12/31/2021 20:00:00