The cannabis grinch who stole Christmas

The end of 2021 was terrible for the marijuana industry, is there anything good to look forward to in 2022?

The end of 2021 was a train wreck for the cannabis industry, as we wrote in our article “The terrible, god-fearing train wreck for the cannabis industry at the end of 2021”. Were we too tough, will there be positive vibrations and impulses for good cannabis news at the federal level in 2022?

In short, no.

But with a gun to your head, “You must be an optimist” what would you pull out of the rubble of the end of 2021 and make hope for the future?

Pooh.

Well, there we go, let me take my curmudgeon hat off and try to be more like Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of the movie than at the beginning.

First, there are no victory dances for a new medical condition or when a medical condition adds recovery. The Democrats had the complete triad at the federal level, and we got NO motion on cannabis legalization, not even the incremental things like safe banking and any kind of eradication targets. To say 2022 looks great for the marijuana industry at the state level is the refinement of the cannabis industry and the “everyone gets a medal” award. A new medical condition, great! A medical condition opens rec, great! The problem is, we only have about 8 states left that don’t have at least one medical program, and each of those states has about 45 people. Once Florida is recycled and opened, nearly 70% of the people in America will have access to recreational marijuana. When you add access through medical programs you hit nearly 95% of the population.

Go through your list of the most populous states and look for recreational and medical programs. California, home to almost as many people as all of the country of Canada living within its border, has had medicinal cannabis for 20 years and recreational cannabis for over 5 years. Florida (once recording starts), Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, Oklahoma, and at some point people who don’t have access will go out. The state wars have been won in the last 8 years, some stragglers are coming this year, but we can’t get 3 more states with medical or recreational programs until the end of 2022 and say it was a good year, no way.

The boy scout badge for a medical program in a state is no longer a victory, we need to improve our game.

Let’s get optimistic

The first important point to build on is that voters want to legalize it. At the last check we were about 75% of Democrats, 55 to 60% of Republican voters, and 60% of the population want weed to be legal. In theory, that means our elected representatives should hear our voices and do what voters unanimously want, right? Well, there is way too much money at stake between Big Pharma, Big Alcohol, Big Tobacco, Taxation Rights, Unions and a host of other greedy groups looking to make their next million off weed. At some point we will elect officials who will take our position on cannabis legalization, and they will eventually make it if enough of them are elected to office. That could be 2023, 2027 or 2030, we just don’t know the power and money that go behind the scenes. If it were up to the voters, we would already have legal cannabis nationwide, but as we’ve seen in the past 18 months, it’s not what voters on both sides of the aisle want. The good news is that the overwhelming majority of voters want to legalize marijuana, so it has to happen at some point.

The second positive aspect to rely on in 2022 is that people generally love marijuana. Sales in the legal and illegal markets are booming; Everyone now seems to have a plug or know how to get weed one way or another. States are getting huge tax benefits from state-level legalization, and they have no interest in seeing those billions of dollars in marijuana taxes disappear anytime soon. The masses will continue to buy cannabis at the expense of other recreational goods such as alcohol and tobacco, so the demand and enjoyment of the product will not diminish in the near future. As more and more medical benefits are researched every day, the medical use of cannabis will only continue to increase and the number of patients will increase, not decrease.

Third, the forces preventing marijuana legalization will eventually enforce their plans and proclaim that now is the time to legalize it. If you believe that Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, and Big Alcohol, as well as groups like Citizen’s United, are holding cannabis illegally until they are ready and have made all their bets and investments, eventually they will be set up as how they want to be in the world of marijuana- Industry ahead of legalization and they are going to go ahead and tell people like Mitch McConnell that they want to see cannabis legalized. As we’ve said in previous articles, when Senator Mitch McConnell says it will be legal, cannabis will be legalized. Period.

Some articles and pontiffers like us have suggested that all of the losses mean that at the federal level, a big win is hoped for in 2022. Given the upcoming midterm elections and the likelihood of Democrats losing a few seats here and there due to vaccines, masks, Joe Biden, etc., the wall will be steeper, not easier to climb, in 2022.

Is there a catalyst that will get the Biden government to step up and legalize cannabis in 2022? Not really. Aside from a big drug company coming out and saying cannabis is very effective in fighting one version of COVID or in treating COVID symptoms, there is simply no incentive for President Biden to get through that in 2022 Jump tires to make sure marijuana is legalized at the federal level. What about the tax revenue? Interesting but he had a COVID wave for 18 months and has been in office for over 300 days, if tax revenue were a burning issue, it would have been public at the federal level.

Barring a cannabis COVID miracle or a crazy federal tax revenue rush that wasn’t announced, prepare for the Grinch in December 2022.

READ MORE HERE AT THE END OF 2021 …

THE CANNABIS DURATION ENDING 2021 READ THIS!

OR…

DR.KOVELCHUK EXAMINING HOW CANNABIS CAN FIGHT COVID!