Despite its numerous growing pains over the past year and change, marijuana remains one of the fastest expanding industries on the planet. After logging $10.9 billion in legal worldwide sales in 2018, Wall Street has global pot sales hitting anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion by 2030.
Although cannabis is a global growth story, there’s no question that the U.S. is at the center of this expansion. The United States is already responsible for the lion’s share of legal weed sales, in spite of the fact that marijuana remains a Schedule I (i.e., illicit) substance at the federal level. Even with presidential candidates Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) unlikely to alter this classification, that’s not going to stop legalization momentum at the state level.
With less than five months left before Americans hit the polls, a dozen states have proposed various marijuana initiatives, 10 of which are looking to legalize medical marijuana, recreational cannabis, or both at the same time. While many of these proposals are still in the signature gathering stage or pending official review, the following four states look to have the best chance to “go green” come November.
Image source: Getty Images.
New Jersey
Perhaps the state with the best chance of legalization is the Garden State. In December, New Jersey’s two legislative houses voted very decisively in favor of putting a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would legalize recreational marijuana. Similar to the other states to have OK’d the recreational consumption and sale of adult-use weed, adults 21 and over would be allowed to purchase cannabis, and an excise tax would be collected on all sales.
According to a Monmouth University poll released in April, 61% of New Jersey voters favor the legalization of adult-use cannabis, which would appear to signal a victory is imminent for pot enthusiasts come Election Day.
Of course, Curaleaf (OTC:CURL.F) will be doing some cheering of its own. Curaleaf already has a medical marijuana presence in the Garden State, and it’ll likely aim to use its deep pockets to build a considerably larger presence in what could well become a state capable of more than $1 billion in annual pot sales. Among U.S. multistate operators, none have more currently operational dispensaries than Curaleaf.
Image source: Getty Images.
Arizona
Although Arizona has five separate marijuana initiatives being considered at the moment, and none of them are a lock to make it onto the ballot, it, too, looks to have an inside path to adult-use legalization.
Why Arizona? Back in 2016, it was the only one of nine states whose medical or recreational pot initiative/amendment didn’t pass. Arizona’s Proposition 205 came awfully close, with the “yes” votes for the measure totaling nearly 48%….
Source: https://mmpconnect.com/the-4-likeliest-states-to-legalize-marijuana-in-november/
