The cannabis industry continues to impress and grow, which it has been doing for some time now. This is exciting to see for cannabis lovers and what makes it even more exciting is that more growth is coming. The following are some things folks can expect from the cannabis industry in 2022.
1. Expansion
One thing people should expect is more expansion. The attitudes regarding marijuana have continued to evolve. While there’s still a good chunk of people that don’t want marijuana to be legalized, that chunk of people is shrinking considerably.
It seems like the cultural battle between those who think marijuana should be legalized and those who don’t is settled. The only thing people have to do is wait for the dust to settle, and they’ll start to see more dispensaries open up as more states vote to legalize it. You’ll see them pop up everywhere, like the Lake Elsinore dispensary among many other places around the country.
2. Federally Illegal
Yes, more states are legalizing marijuana, but that doesn’t mean you should expect full legalization. For some reason, folks in Congress don’t seem to hear the public’s cry for legalization. It’s almost like they don’t see that people want this, or perhaps they’re in a demographic that hasn’t evolved on the subject.
Whatever the reason might be, it seems like marijuana won’t become federally legalized this year, but that doesn’t mean people should lose hope. The more people vote to legalize the herb, the closer that dream will be to becoming real. It’s going to take time, but it’s exciting to see that people have the power to change things given enough time. These changes would seem impossible to anyone in the past, yet it’s happening.
3. Mergers
Mergers are going to start happening. Some of these have begun, but this year you’ll see many more. The reality is that since dispensaries have a lot of hurdles to deal with, including the way they finance their business, the only way to survive is to stick together. At the moment, dispensaries cannot do any banking since no bank wants to touch money earned this way.
This reality haunts many dispensaries and takes away opportunities other types of businesses have that could help them expand even more. This is the reason many dispensaries are finding ways to link up with other dispensaries. They are finding support and help when they need it. Every dispensary owner knows that it’s better to stick together than to compete.
4. Brand Recognition
Brands will begin to take hold and emerge. Some have already done so, but they’re going to continue to expand and grow. The mergers mentioned earlier are going to continue to make this a reality. Stronger brands are going to rise in popularity and recognition. More people will recognize brands, which is going to help make this industry more powerful than before.
The way these brands will grow is almost like a franchise, except it’s going to be in reverse. The local, independent dispensaries that are just trying to stay afloat are going to become part of a bigger entity. Brand recognition is going to help improve quality, access, trust, and quality, so customers should be pretty happy about this particular change as it happens. No one knows which brand is going to become the Mcdonald’s but for the marijuana industry, but it’s exciting to speculate a bit.
5. Experience
The marijuana industry will start focusing on experience along with cannabis. Up till now, many dispensaries only offered cannabis and nothing else, but that’s no longer enough for their customers. It seems that many dispensaries are moving towards offering an experience along with their ‘green’ products.
Some might offer live music, while others might offer a nightclub experience. This could be a night of comedy, poetry, or whatever else the customer base might be interested in. Cannabis is used to relax and have a good time, so it only makes sense that dispensaries capitalize on that. There’s no telling what each dispensary is going to offer, but it makes it pretty exciting to visit a new one to see what’s going on and which one you might connect with better.
The cannabis industry is still in its infancy, so there’s no telling what other surprises it’ll have down the line. The only thing cannabis aficionados can do is support and keep paying attention.
