The Billion-Dollar Industry Even Amazon Can’t Touch

It’s arguably the largest emerging consumer products channel since Steve Jobs and his cadre of genius believers gave us Apple, and established industries can’t get near it. The Pfizers and the Eli Lilly’s have to sit the dance out, as do large consumer packaged goods corporations.  High profile advertising and marketing agencies have to avoid it for fear of client and consumer reprisal or worse, federal government intervention.  Outside of selling the products used to experience Cannabis, Amazon has no legal avenue to participate within the industry.  How many consumer product manufacturers who have been crippled by Internet titans wouldn’t love that?

Where it’s legal, Cannabis is mainstreaming its way into our nation’s collective consciousness (and into consumer’s cabinets) one plant and extract at a time. It is equal doses accepted consumer channel and the Wild Wild West, and its growth shows no signs of slowing.  Maverick investors, growers, manufacturers, retailers and specialized marketing agencies are going all in on Cannabis, believing that the financial rewards far outweigh the inherent risks posed by the federal government and law enforcement agencies.

This must be what it felt like at the end of prohibition. Ad and marketing agencies are foaming at the mouth for a chance to get in on the action, with the big established players forced to sit on the sidelines because of legalities. There’s not been another consumer product that is illegal federally yet legal in over 30 states for at least medicinal use.

Still in its toddler phase, Cannabis is a risk taking marketer’s paradise. There’s innovation to be had in arenas including packaging, retail store design, branding, PR, digital, and advertising. Employee “budtenders” need to be trained, and management must discover its sales channels and areas of growth opportunity. Consumer must be educated regarding the variety of strains, potencies, usages, and potential benefits. Dispensary owners, sensing the rise in competition, look to set themselves apart from all others. Growers who sell directly to dispensaries must position their products as the best choices for their vendors and prospects. Sales teams need to be trained and motivated. Delivery drivers are being hired and educated in customer service. The list, like the opportunity, is immense.

Unlike the cigarette tobacco industry, Cannabis can be ingested or used topically rather than smoked. This takes lung cancer caused by smoking off the table for millions who otherwise would not try it. Experts say researchers are only scratching the surface of potential medicinal benefits of the plant in treating a host of maladies.

Thanks to a desperate lack of government endorsed medical trials to prove Cannabis’ efficacy, the U.S. is behind countries such as Israel in terms of research. The largest growth segment within Cannabis is among older Americans who would rather treat their maladies with Cannabis than with opioids, alcohol and/or prescription medications. Among those of drinking age where Cannabis is legal, countless are choosing it over alcohol. Even family pets are getting into the act, their owners using CBD oil to improve joints and mobility.

The federal government poses a challenge to those who play in the Cannabis space, but also provides cover from larger corporations and businesses that would take over the industry. Because of the federal threat, Cannabis has been forced to become a predominantly cash based business. Federally insured banks refuse to take Cannabis money for fear that the government will seize assets or levy fines on them. In places such as Fresno, CA, a very conservative bastion in the middle of the state where medicinal and recreational Cannabis is legal, dispensaries are nearly non-existent. The possibility of a police raid has forced retailers into a clandestine “delivery only” model. 

Even with its legal challenges, the Cannabis industry is a fiscal and creative treasure trove for those who promote and sell it. Like any emerging industry, the investors, growers, distributors, retailers and marketers who get in now will be the ones who will be the ones, as Steve Jobs said, that “put a dent in the universe.” The more it becomes legally accessible to all to consumers, the more profitable it will become. It is almost unicorn rare that motivated business professionals get to play in an industry in its infancy, which is invariably why many are now looking for inroads into the business. 

Whether for or against its use, the power of consumer Cannabis industry can't be overlooked, discounted or denied.