The economic impact of Texas cannabis companies is expected to surpass that of wine

Cannabis companies in Texas could soon be making more money than the wine industry, reports the Austin Business Journal. According to a new report from Whitney Economics, an Oregon-based cannabis and hemp analytics firm, cannabis companies generated over $8 billion in revenue in 2022. While many people enjoy both wine and weed (sometimes together), alcoholics and stoners always compete with each other, even just for fun. And right now, Texas sommeliers may need to be on their guard.

Unfortunately, there’s a major setback that’s keeping stoners from celebrating this win. Recreational cannabis is still illegal in Texas. Possession of up to two ounces is a Class B misdemeanor and is punishable by up to 180 days in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. In November 2022, a majority of voters in Denton, Texas, approved a measure to decriminalize minor marijuana offenses. However, city leaders defied those results, voting by a majority of 4 to 3 “against passage of the ordinance that would have decriminalized marijuana,” reported CBS News Texas.

Tex-Mex eatery E-Bar recently went viral for posting an anti-tobacco policy on its window that read, “If you smell marijuana on you, we won’t serve you.”

The Lone Star State allows medical cannabis for conditions like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and terminal cancer. Texas’ Compassionate Use Program confirmed it had nearly 61,000 registered patients in July (up from more than 45,000 in January, according to state data).

That doesn’t mean, however, that Texans who use marijuana medicinally can simply have a high-THC edible delivered to really ease the pain while they sit back and watch some dark comedy. Residents in states like New York and California forget how prosperous they are there. In Texas, medical patients receive only low-THC oil, meaning less than 1% THC. This law has been in force since 2015. CBD is legal thanks to the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, and that’s exactly what these analyzes examined.

“This landmark study validates the true value the hemp industry offers our state, from creating jobs and supporting liveable wages to driving business expansion and product innovation,” said Ilissa Nolan, executive director of the Texas Hemp Coalition, a nonprofit organization. dedicated to promoting business expansion and product innovation Hemp advocacy and education, reports the Austin Business Journal.

Whitney Economics compiled the data from surveys sent to CBD and hemp retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and smoke and vape shops and gas stations — pretty much every type of business that sells CBD was included. But only some of them were allowed to participate. Roughly 53% of the estimated 5,000 hemp, CBD, and cannabinoid retailers, manufacturers, and distributors in Texas received the survey. These findings, while exciting, are limited.

According to the data, hemp-derived CBD companies, from manufacturing to retail outlets, employed more than 50,000 Texans and generated between $19.1 billion and $22.4 billion in economic growth. (Revenue, which is revenue, is distinct from economic growth, which is an increase in the production of goods and services in an economy, hence the discrepancy between the $8 billion figure previously mentioned.) Wages for workers in the cannabis industry exceeded $1.6 billion.

Conversely, according to Wine America, the wine industry generated more than $20 billion for the Texas economy and sustained more than 141,000 jobs with nearly $7 billion in wages.

Alcohol sales were restricted in Texas in the run-up to statewide Prohibition, which lasted from January 17, 1920 to December 5, 1933, but the business has boomed since then. CBD has only been able to establish itself as a legal business model in the state of Lone Star since 2018. Considering that cannabis is already catching up with the wine, despite being legal only in its mildest form (CBD), it suggests that Texans are voting with their money, and that money says they do more want cannabis.