And a handful of stocks that could profit as these marijuana markets expand.
“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”
This quote is frequently attributed to the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, but he apparently never said those exact words. Of course, $1 billion is real money regardless of what anyone says or doesn’t say.
Quite a few states are on track for real money to be made in the cannabis industry over the next few years. Seven states are projected to claim marijuana markets with spending of $1 billion or more by 2022, according to a report published recently by ArcView Market Research and BDS Analytics. Which states made the list — and are there opportunities for investors? Here’s what you need to know…
1. California
California doesn’t have to wait to have a billion-dollar marijuana market. Last year, cannabis spending in the state approached $3 billion. By 2022, this total is projected to jump to $7.7 billion — boosted significantly by California’s recreational marijuana market that opened for business earlier this year. The California marijuana industry’s total output, which measures the total economic impact rather than direct spending only, could be nearly $15 billion in the next four years.
2. Colorado
There’s also another state that is already seeing real money spent on marijuana: Colorado. Marijuana spending in the state totaled $1.5 billion last year, including both medical and recreational sales. This figure is expected to increase to around $2.5 billion in 2022. The total output of the cannabis industry in Colorado at that time is projected to be roughly $4.6 billion. This growth rate isn’t as impressive as California’s primarily because the marijuana market in Colorado is more mature.
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