How the November ballot could reshape the financial landscape of the marijuana industry

Marijuana legalization, whether medical or recreational, is a hot point of contention and discussion in the United States. Legalization of recreational marijuana will have major financial affects. Taxation and financial regulation aside, investment opportunities in marijuana capital will then become a reality and a major part of stock trading. Nine states in the United States have already legalized recreational marijuana, and business is booming! Plenty more will have the issue voted on very soon – some even in November of 2018. Assuming these measures go through and are approved, how will the financial markets be affected? If prior legalization is anything to base an informed opinion off of, the markets will soar with the legalization. However, in the interest of secure investing, here’s everything potential investors would need to and should know.

There are only two states confirmed to be voting on marijuana this election cycle: Michigan and Oklahoma. Oklahoma is the least interesting, financially, of the two since their voters will be voting on legalization of medical marijuana as opposed to recreational, therefore providing less financial opportunity to those outside of the medical field. However, Michigan has proved to be very interesting. The measure to add marijuana legislation to the ballot received enough votes in 2016, but barely missed the deadline for submission. However, public support for the measure is quite large. Michigan voters will be voting on recreational legalization in November, as the petition came in before the deadline this time. Also of note: Arizona has a large petition circulating for recreational legalization that may end up on the ballot, whereas Iowa, Utah and Nebraska all have large petitions for medical legalization circulating. Only time will tell if it makes it to a vote.

That’s what to watch out for, but what do we already have? Nine states have legalized recreational marijuana thus far. Those nine are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, as well as Washington D.C. So far, all nine states (and D.C.) have experienced major financial gains directly correlated with the legalization of marijuana. State infrastructure benefits from the increased tax collection and investors have benefited from their investments in the state marijuana companies. This is why it’s key to keep an eye on what other states will be legalizing recreational marijuana as it’s soon to become one of the – if not the – most profitable businesses in the United States.

The Brightfield Group, an independent financial analysis group, predicts that by the year 2022, the marijuana market will be worth $22 billion dollars. As such, it’s the perfect time for investors to invest in marijuana capital. Why? The market will be hitting $591 million dollars in 2018, meaning that we’re looking at major increases in market value and profit over the next four years. Now is the time to get on the ground floor of this opportunity and to make quite a large sum!

Mitch McConnell’s 2018 Farm Bill will remove hemp as a Category 1 offense, federally. The House and Senate have both passed the bill and now it only awaits President Trump’s approval. With farmers across the country legally able to grow hemp (to be, in turn, sold to the states with legalized recreational marijuana), the industry’s gains will most likely be even bigger than currently predicted. Investors need to keep watching the bill to verify it gets signed into the law, and then act on one of the best investments they’ll ever make. The marijuana market is, without doubt, one of the markets destined to shape the financial landscape of the 2020s.