Legal marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the United States and if the trend toward legalization spreads to all 50 states, marijuana could become larger than the organic food industry, according to a new report obtained by The Huffington Post.
Researchers from The ArcView Group, a cannabis industry investment and research firm based in Oakland, California, found that the U.S. market for legal cannabis grew 74 percent in 2014 to $2.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2013.
The group surveyed hundreds of medical and recreational marijuana retailers in states where sales are legal, as well as ancillary business operators and independent cultivators of the plant, over the course of seven months during 2013 and 2014. ArcView also compiled data from state agencies, nonprofit organizations and private companies in the marijuana industry for a more complete look at the marketplace.
Will that mean you can smoke this in no smoking areas?
I have read that respiratory diseases and cancers are as prevalent with marijuana smoking as with tobacco, if not more so, and there are mental side effects with routine use. The anti-smoking campaign doesn’t seem to have carried over to pot.
2, that can’t be right. Pro marijuana folks keep telling us it’s absolutely harmless and will cure all known diseases. Plus it has no bad mental effects or anything. It is the most benign thing in the world.