Biden supports Bloomberg's marijuana forecast

It's a mixed bag for the cannabis industry. BDSA, a leading analytics firm covering the cannabis industry, has just released numbers and data showing that the cannabis industry earned $29.5 billion in 2023. Missouri generated a whopping $1 billion, which would make anyone take a second look. Consumption has become mainstream and Generation Z is moving further away from alcohol and towards marijuana. But there are underlying problems. As pricing pressures flourish, chaos in New York and California and federal government restrictions are crushing the small businesses that make up the bulk of the industry. A bit of hope? Biden supports Bloomberg's marijuana forecast in his State of the Union address.

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Bloomberg leads the way in business news and tracks the cannabis industry. Because of Biden's slow campaign commitment to helping the industry, Bloomberg was hesitant about the industry's growth. But with Biden not mentioning cannabis, Bloomberg now predicts an 80 percent chance of a shift in the coming months. This will have a dramatic boost to the growing economic business community.

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If the DEA redirects marijuana, the industry will be relieved of certain tax burdens it currently faces under Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, a necessary relief for the small and large businesses that represent the majority of owner-operators. It should make banking easier, including by reducing potential liability with a higher planned product.

A longer-term benefit of the rescheduling is that many products and manufacturers would be brought more directly into the FDA's regulatory authority, which would significantly open up the medical marijuana market and also allow larger mainstream retailers to consider launching products.

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Replanning would not make it federal legislation, which this administration can do, but would give more traditional business rights and benefits to legal businesses in the states. In the few states that have held back completely, it would still be crime.