Legal Cannabis has taken most of the developing world by storm.
The raft of legalizations that we saw in the final end of the last century turned the industry around and made it an economic giant that cannot be ignored by any means.
But even as many other countries continue to legalize cannabis at a national level, the US still lags behind because cannabis is not legal at a federal level. This means that US companies cannot export their cannabis products to other states or internationally to the growing market.
This is a huge opportunity lost for US cannabis companies and investors. And the question then becomes, when will the US legalize marijuana federally and take advantage of its high quality cannabis products to take over the international market and reap big?
Legalization still remains slow in the US
As of now, only 33 states in the US have legalized cannabis for medical use and about 11 states have legalized the same for recreational purposes.
Although this is good progress, lack of a federal legal framework means that for most big producers and manufacturers of cannabis and cannabis products, their hands remain tied and their capabilities remain limited to a great extent.
There is hope that a number of states will join this growing list this year. Some of those states include Utah, Ohio, Virginia, and Kansas. However, considering that other countries such as Uruguay, Germany, Argentina, Italy, and Poland already allow the use of medical marijuana nationally is a big challenge to the US.
Key players expected to legalize recreational cannabis year
A number of countries worldwide are expected to legalize cannabis this year, or very soon.
One of those countries is New Zealand.
NZ has a national referendum this year during which nationals will decide whether to pass the legalization of cannabis or not to.
Early polls show that majority of adults are for cannabis and the referendum is therefore likely to end in an affirmative win. If, and when that happens, the incoming government will have to put in place a legislation framework that regulates the legalization of recreational cannabis in the country.
Another key country that is drawing closer to legalization is the US’s close neighbor down south – Mexico.
A comprehensive draft bill is set to be presented to the country’s Supreme Court by April this year.
This was supposed to happen last year but delays in presentation of the bills led to the application of an extension which was luckily granted. And the draft bill in place seeks to legalize cannabis use in all ways.
While this is a big win for cannabis use internationally and for the people of Mexico, it is yet another blow to the cannabis industry in the US.
Mexico is an attractive option for international cannabis investors who can’t do business in the US. Not only is the country close to the US where most seasoned experts are, there’s also plenty of arable farming land and readily available affordable labor there.
Mexico could therefore very well turn out to be an international cannabis giant supplying both Latin America and European markets.
Canada remains king of cannabis internationally, for now
But for now, in the absence of US players on the international table, Canada has taken over the crown and it stands to reap big in the coming decade as a result. Canada legalized recreational marijuana in 2018.
Some of the key players in the country include companies such as Constellation Brands, Aurora, Canopy Growth, and Aphria.
These large stakeholders and others are already taking advantage of the US’s absence to sign major international deals that allows them to export recreational and medicinal cannabis products to various markets across the globe.
In 2019 Canada went ahead and legalized the manufacture and distribution of edibles and ingestibles as well.
So starting this year investors in the country are planning to bring to market cannabis 2.0 products such as snacks, spring water, juices, and beer. This is expected to rejuvenate the market after a rather dismal performance last year. Cannabis 2.0 products will add more cannabis variety to the market and entice even more investors to join the fray. Meanwhile the US slumbers on thanks to federal hurdles.
Asia is not left behind either
Even in Asia, advances in cannabis legalization are taking hold. Thailand just recently legalized the use of medical and recreational cannabis. This puts the country in a very strategic position to be a leader in the cannabis growth, sales and research in the region.
Thailand understands that cannabis poses the opportunity to bring in a tidy sum of revenue from both local and international sales.
The country also wants to tap into the medicinal benefits of marijuana which have been seen to help with various conditions such as glaucoma, cancer, pain, sleep, and appetite, anxiety. And to that end Thailand has opened its first marijuana clinic.
The sleeping giant (US) slumbers on
Back in the US, even as hope for legalization in more states grows, the chances of federal legalization remain uncertain.
President Trump has expressed wishes to keep cannabis legalization in the US at state levels. And sadly, he has also hinted at using federal power to interfere with state legalization.
With a general election looming in the near distance, a number of presidential hopefuls have expressed interest to legalize cannabis in the US nationally.
However, that is all speculation at this point. And as other countries legalize and sign cannabis trade deals, the US which has some of the best cannabis production varieties and growth experience continues to slumber on like a true sleeping giant. Will it ever awake?