The Cannabis and Hemp Industry in 2020 – A Review

Be the first to know when new content like this is available!

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive notifications of new posts, local news and industry insights.

Many Thanks! Your submission has been received!

Oops! There was an error submitting the form.

Who could ever have guessed how the world would change in 2020 at the beginning of the year? A global pandemic, quarantines and economic shutdowns weren’t part of the conversation as cannabis and hemp companies developed their plans for 2020.

As we near the end of 2020, let’s take a look back at the themes and events that defined this year of surprises.

COVID-19

You can’t start a 2020 roundup without COVID-19 – the pandemic that stopped the economy and changed the way people work and do business. However, cannabis license holders and ancillary businesses are run by a savvy group of people, and as the world changed, cannabis companies became indispensable businesses in many states.

This distinction showed a wider audience that the cannabis industry is expected to grow significantly in the near future – something that many in the industry hoped would be even more likely with a new White House government in 2021.

The 2020 election

Those hopes will become more likely if Joe Biden wins the 2020 election. He’s already promised to make changes to cannabis policy, and over time, federal legalization could become more likely.

However, it wasn’t just the presidential election that would have a huge impact on the cannabis industry in 2020. Voting initiatives across the country added more state programs for medical and / or adult purposes in South Dakota, Mississippi, Arizona. Montana and New Jersey.

These votes show that the country and its citizens have developed further. Today, a record number of American adults are in favor of legalizing cannabis. According to a new Gallup poll, 68% of American adults approve of legal cannabis. Here is the breakdown of the approval percentages by demographics:

• gender: 69% of men and 66% of women are in favor of legalizing cannabis
• Age: 79% between 18 and 29 years, 75% between 30 and 49 years, 60% between 50 and 64 years and 55% from 65 years are in favor of the legalization of cannabis
• education: 76% of college graduates and 64% of non-college graduates are in favor of legalizing cannabis
• Household income: 67% of people with an annual household income of less than $ 40,000, 68% of people with an annual household income of $ 40,000 to $ 100,000, and 74% of people with an annual household income of over $ 100,000 are in favor of legalizing cannabis
• Political party: 48% of Republicans, 72% of Independents, and 83% of Democrats are in favor of legalizing cannabis

Hemp pilot programs

The best way to sum up hemp pilot programs in 2020 is confusion – confusion about USDA’s rules for interim pilot programs, confusion between states, and confusion from an expansion to the hemp pilot program signed by President Trump on October 1, 2020 on May 1, 2020 October, which is the sunset date through September 30, 2021.

Jason Kikel, Director of Regulatory Research at Cannabiz Media, wrote a great recap on what happened to cannabis pilots in 2020 and what could come in 2021. Follow the previous link to read it and see where things are.

Weather in Cannacurio

And now some good news. In 2020, Cannabiz Media launched Cannacurio, including the Cannacurio podcast and data-rich Cannacurio blog posts.

The Cannacurio podcast, hosted by Ed Keating, Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer of Cannabiz Media, and Amanda Guerrero, Director of Sales and Trade Associations, was released on April 1, 2020 with an insightful interview with Chaz Hermanowski of Grove Bags .

For the past eight months, Ed and Amanda have spoken to a variety of Cannabiz Media customers over the podcast, sharing stories, advice, and more to help companies in and with the cannabis industry across the supply chain.

Weekly Cannacurio blog posts, authored by Ed Keating and populated with data from the Cannabiz Media License Database, were first published on the Cannabiz Media blog on January 27, 2020 and looked at new active licenses for pharmacies and retailers by state in 2019.

Since then, Ed and the Cannabiz Media research team have published Cannacurio articles that cover everything from license counts to the supply chain to state-to-state data insights, software and POS platform data, and much more.

Keep an eye on the Cannabiz Media blog for more Cannacurio podcasts and blog posts to come out later in 2021. Subscribe to the Cannabiz Media newsletter to get the latest podcasts and articles in your email inbox.

Key takeaways on the cannabis and hemp industry in 2020

Every year there are challenges, obstacles, surprises and opportunities that companies face, but 2020 was certainly one of the most unique years companies have seen in a long time.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 is still here and will continue to affect everyone in the year ahead, including cannabis and hemp license holders and the ancillary businesses. Check out an upcoming post here on the Cannabiz Media blog for what to expect in the cannabis and hemp industry in 2021. It has to be better than 2020, right?