Turn on the news and seemingly, the geopolitical and economic worries only mount. Specifically, I’m referring to the potentially devastating U.S.-China trade war. In a little more than 24 hours from the time of writing, the U.S. will hit China with a fresh set of tariffs. This amounts to a 15% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. But one little plant could help mitigate our own economic risks: marijuana.
Everyone that works in the marijuana industry recognizes that the U.S. market is weed’s crown jewel. With a population size of approximately 330 million people, a majority of them support cannabis legalization. According to the Pew Research Center, this amounts to 62% of the population, or nearly 205 million people. To put that into perspective, Canada has a population size of about 37 million.
Currently, Canada, not its bigger brother, owns the lion’s share of the legal marijuana business. That of course has to do with the fact that Canada was the first G7 member state to legalize weed. Naturally, most of the major players in the cannabis market are Canadian-headquartered companies.
However, the limited population size means that the U.S. has always been the end goal. Even if the industry converted half of those who support legalization, that’s still considerably more than the number of active Canadian cannabis users.
Of course, the U.S. federal government has been reluctant for decades to legalize marijuana. But that might change sooner than you think.
Trade War Puts Pressure Toward Marijuana Legalization
Prior to American hearts turning toward weed legalization, the U.S. was very much anti-cannabis. While few might admit it, I believe this had to do with a dubious interpretation of the Bible. Simply put, many Americans thought Jesus is against marijuana.
Probably, we’ll never know the real answer to this because the Bible doesn’t talk about cannabis per say. But with the advent of cannabis-based products, such as cannabidiol or CBD, faith-based institutions have no leg to stand on: you can enjoy the medicinal effects of cannabis without getting high.
Indeed, ample science confirms this point. But the federal government, like any of its endeavors, has been slow to respond. And in a bull market, no fiscal or economic incentive exists to push weed legalization.
But with the increasingly vitriolic trade war, that dynamic has shifted dramatically. Now, it’s almost criminal not to legalize marijuana. Because we’re sitting on a green gold mine, and with the power to help hundreds of thousands, if not millions: however, we’re not doing it for ridiculously outdated and archaic moral reservations.
As the economy worsens, this attitude against marijuana should change. And that could eventually spark full legalization.