By the end of 2018, the marijuana business in the United States was worth $10.4 billion and employed one-quarter of a million people in work directly involving the plants, according to Beau Whitney, vice president and senior economist at New Frontier Data, a market research and data analysis firm that specializes in the cannabis industry.
Investors poured $10 billion into cannabis in North America in 2018, twice what was invested in the last three years combined, he said, and the combined North American market is expected to reach more than $16 billion in 2019.
An analysis done last year by New Frontier Data and reported by the Washington Post showed that if cannabis:
… were fully legal in all 50 states, it would create at least a combined $131.8 billion in in federal tax revenue between 2017 and 2025. That is based on an estimated 15 percent retail sales tax, payroll tax deductions and business tax revenue.
It would also serve to create more than 1 million new jobs by 2025. Leading contenders for some of the top jobs in this growth industry include women and minorities.
According to data gathered by Marijuana Business Daily through a 2017 online survey, one in four founders/owners of marijuana-related businesses is a woman. They also fill 27 percent of executive positions in the industry, compared to 23 percent of all U.S. businesses.
Their success is rooted in part by the wide-open nature of a young business that exists in the shadows of legality, as well as their tendency to make the overwhelming majority of consumer purchase decisions.
Kate Miller and Anna Duckworth are the cofounders of Miss Grass, a women-centered cannabis magazine that has been deemed the “Goop of Cannabis.” In their online publication, they focus on normalizing cannabis use through combining educational information with lifestyle content ranging from self-care and beauty to sex and smoking etiquette. They have been in the cannabis industry for years and have witnessed how women are embracing marijuana more than ever in a new way.
“Cannabis legalization is creating an insatiable appetite for information. Women are looking for alternative non-toxic, plant-based, holistic remedies for health and cannabis falls into all of those categories,” says Duckworth. “That’s why women are adopting cannabis as a wellness tool and making it a part of a much bigger approach to self-care.”
In December 2017 BDS Analytics, a marijuana marketing research firm, released its Women’s Health Consumer Insights Survey. Included in its findings:
Four out of ten surveyed female cannabis Consumers[1] turn to marijuana as a natural alternative to manage mood swings brought on by menstruation, menopause or mental health conditions. Relief from premenstrual pain as well as cramps also registered as major drivers, with 39% of women Consumers using cannabis to cope with their symptoms.
Cannabis consumption cuts across the age divide. Older women transitioning through menopause may choose cannabis products to supplement or replace estrogen therapy, with 35% of menopausal Consumers choosing cannabis to improve their sleep and 32% choosing cannabis to relieve their symptoms.
Women not only manage their personal health concerns with cannabis, they also consume cannabis for pleasure: 27% of women Consumers say they consume cannabis to enhance their sexual experiences. Mothers with children at home are more likely than all other female Consumers to pair marijuana and sex.
As women take control of their health and well-being, the industry has responded by hiring women to tap into this growing market. We now see cannabis-based balms and edibles specifically designed for a woman’s needs. Women, 58.35 percent of whom use cannabis (compared to 41.65 percent of men), are setting the course for the industry’s future.
In addition to their large market share, women do not face the same barriers in this young industry as they do in so many others. You can find women as cultivators, caregivers, dispensary owners, and as developers and founders of ancillary industries. Like Giadha Aguirre de Carcer, the CEO of New Frontiers Data. Or like Nancy Whiteman, the founder and co-owner of Wana Brands, which specializes in infusion-based products.
Women are all over the map when it comes to successful marijuana business models. From the ladies leading the legal side of things to women like Jessica Peters, who created Moxie Meds, a company developed to ease symptoms and pain associated with menstrual cramps, PMS, menopause, and reproductive issues, there are countless companies in the cannabis sector.
KushCo is the largest provider of ancillary services to the cannabis industry, specializing in containers and packaging. According to the Motley Fool:
Business is definitely booming. In September, KushCo announced preliminary fiscal-year 2018 revenue of $51 million, up 171% over the prior year. KushCo CEO Nick Kovacevich said that the company believed "that no U.S.-based public cannabis-related company has ever before generated this level of annual sales revenue."
In a Forbes interview, Barbara Goodstein, board member of KushCo and former CEO of Tiger21 Holdings, explains to Nick Kovacevich, the CEO of KushCo, why women are doing so well in cannabis:
BG: Cannabis is a level playing field — everyone has the same opportunity. It’s a young industry, run by young people. There are no barriers for women here. There’s no reason women can’t be successful.
NK: That must mean cannabis has improved on traditional corporate culture?
BG: It’s nothing like the big, old-fashioned corporate type. Women have opportunities here because there is no established “right” way to be successful. There’s no glass ceiling, because there is no ceiling at all.
This youthful industry has proved welcoming to women and to minorities. The survey done by Marijuana Business Daily showed that, across the cannabis industry, minorities occupy 17 percent of the executive offices, as opposed to 13 percent in the larger U.S. business market as a whole. And almost 20 percent of the respondents who either own or have an ownership stake in a marijuana business are minorities. That is kind of surprising when you consider the barriers to ownership, which includes high application and registration fees as well as state-level demands for a clean record, which hits minorities harder than whites due to excessive policing in their communities.
Cage-Free Cannabis was formed to address the inequities of the drug war. In the early stages of legalization, minorities were poorly represented and were failing to receive any of the benefits of this roll-back of the war on drugs. Today, this west coast operation is expanding its work to expunge marijuana convictions from the records of drug war victims, as well as helping them find employment in the cannabis field.
The Drug War has disproportionately harmed communities of color. People have lost jobs, education, housing, their liberty, their families, and their lives to this War.
Now they deserve justice - in the form of an opportunity to participate in, and profit from, this industry. Our purpose is to create awareness of this issue, create jobs, and create profits to give back to these same communities.
Women have also developed programs that mentor and assist other women who wish to get into the business, such as Canna Advisors, a cannabis consulting firm co-founded by Diane Czarkowski that helps launch and grow marijuana-based businesses. Women Grow and Women of Cannabiz are specifically designed to help women get into and grow their cannabis businesses.
Women Grow was created in 2014 by women for women who want to succeed in the marijuana business industry. It was designed to connect, educate, inspire, and empower industry leaders and is doing a darned fine job at doing so. Women Grow serves as a means for women who want to succeed in the cannabis industry.
Women of Cannabiz:
Rachel Garland is a cannabis writer and content creator who launched Women of Cannabiz in June 2016 to elevate female cannabis entrepreneurs worldwide. Now, this platform has become one of the leading resources for online cannabis education and inspiration for new entrepreneurs. Women of Cannabiz offers business tips and tools to help women achieve their goals in the cannabis space, because Garland herself took a risk to pursue her dream of writing. Garland is now helping other women do the same by providing them with all the tools she utilized herself to create Women of Cannabiz.
Women are indeed flourishing in this evolving industry, in all aspects but one: money. The Marijuana Business Daily survey showed that although women are well-represented in the executive suites in most areas of the industry, at 10 percent, they are woefully lacking in the leadership of marijuana investment funding firms. These firms are overwhelmingly led by men and it is only logical to expect that, as such, they are more likely to lend to other men, whether they do so consciously or not. As the industry spreads and becomes more competitive, capital will be essential to creating and expanding a cannabis business.
And the political landscape for the expansion of legalized marijuana has never looked more promising. Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have introduced a States Act bill that will allow states, territories, and tribes to determine the legal status of weed within their own borders. Trump has already said that he would sign such legislation. But that is not the only bill being proposed.
Lack of banking access has become a more salient issue, and is also the subject of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act), introduced earlier this year by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Merkley has stated this reform is critical for public safety, since cash-only businesses are more vulnerable to organized crime, money laundering, theft, and tax and payroll fraud. Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury of the Secretary under President Trump, has shown support for similar reforms on this issue.
And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg for progressive marijuana reforms introduced in Congress. Among the more high-profile legislative efforts is the Marijuana Justice Act, introduced by Senator Cory Booker. The bill would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, expunge criminal records for people convicted of low-level offenses, create a half million dollar "community reinvestment fund" for communities most devastated by the War on Drugs, and even cut federal law enforcement and prison funds from states with especially disproportionate marijuana enforcement in low-income and minority communities.
Democrats in the House are optimistic, and we can expect to see some movement there with the retirement of the No. 1 marijuana opponent, Bob Goodlatte, as well as the No. 2 opponent, Pete Sessions of Texas. Although many opponents were re-elected, most Democrats are supporters of reform and are now in the majority in the House. Kris Krane, co-founder of 4Front, a leading investment and management firm in the cannabis industry, wrote last week for Forbes:
Yet even with the re-election of many prohibitionists, cannabis reformers are still making gains. In a stunning reversal weeks after the election, Rep. Kennedy announced his support for legalization. He clearly saw that he was out of step with his constituents, and may have also realized that this position was holding him back from higher office. With nearly every front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary angling to be the best on cannabis, it’s clear that the issue has become a litmus test for anyone who wants a future in the party. As I profiled in a column earlier this year, this universal support for legalization among Democratic party front runners may push the current occupant of the White House to become the first sitting president to endorse legalization in some form.
Wouldn't that be fitting? If ever I knew of anyone who could use the benefits of medical marijuana, it would be the McDonald-gobbling, Diet Coke-slurping occupant of the Oval Office.