The Biggest Challenges for the Cannabis Industry 2023

The Marijuana Industry

The Greatest Challenges the Industry Faces in 2023

A Growing Industry with Side Effects

Isn’t it amazing how the world is becoming pro-cannabis? The marijuana industry is grabbing market share with its trendy products and healing properties. Everyone wants a part of this million-dollar industry, whether growing, selling, or consuming it.

While it’s still federally illegal due to its schedule–1 drug status, many states have legalized cannabis for recreational or medicinal use.

The challenges deterring the complete growth of the industry affect marijuana enthusiasts trading on a small or large scale.  

Who would have thought those tiny little cannabis autoflower seeds would someday become the backbone of an industry? Let’s find out why marijuana just can’t seem to firmly plant its roots within the market just yet.

The Marijuana Industry

The cannabis industry is constantly changing. The world watches in anticipation as each country or its states legalize the use, growing, or distribution of marijuana.

For anyone new to the concept, you’re probably asking yourself, just how big is the cannabis industry? What’s all the fuss about stabilizing it within the market? More importantly, why does everyone keep talking about the challenges?

For years people got the stink eye for even mentioning the word cannabis. Society stuck to the illicit side and wouldn’t hear anything about it. Sadly, a lot of the world’s population still thinks this way.

What they don’t know is that the cannabis industry is now a multi-million dollar enterprise. According to studies, estimated legal sales for 2022 are $33 billion.

More U.S states are legalizing the recreational and medical use of marijuana. As a result, cultivation methods improve, and so do the product lines. To date: 

• 37 states and Washington D.C legalized cannabis for medical use.
• 18 states and Washing D.C legalized marijuana for recreational use.
• 11 states have fully legalized cannabis use.

Currently, legal marijuana businesses provide jobs for over 500,000 individuals in the U.S. These include plant-touching and ancillary positions.

• Plant touching jobs: Handling cannabis from seed to sale, i.e., cultivators, manufacturers, distributors, and dispensaries.
• Ancillary jobs: Is the support team to cannabis traders, like lawyers, accountants, suppliers, and marketers.

Other notable discoveries made about the 2022 cannabis industry in the U.S are:

• Consumers have increased their usage by 50% since 2020.
• Females dominate the consumer market since sales to them have increased by 55%
• Recreational cannabis is now legally available to 44% of American citizens.
• 91% of adults are pro-cannabis and want to legalize it.

The Greatest Challenges the Industry Faces in 2023

The cannabis industry is full of diversity and definite complexity. With rules and regulations constantly at the forefront of anything concerning marijuana, nothing’s constant. Except, of course, for the challenges, the industry faces—even with all the legalization taking place.

Until marijuana is federally acceptable, curveballs will deter many businesses from reaching their full potential. Here we’ll look at the biggest cannabis industry challenges in 2023.

• Legalization
• Marketing
• The banking system
• Stigma

Legalization

Legality and regulations continue to be the biggest hold on the cannabis industry. The laws for the growing, sale or use of marijuana differ in each country or state. It interferes with the trade between businesses—what’s legal in one area may not be in another.

Issues of legalization prevent cannabis businesses from attaining vital things like insurance for their crops or premises.

Cannabis legalization has an effect on the sporting world too. According to various user reports, this herb has significant aiding abilities with athletic recovery. Marijuana topicals have proven to help with muscle and joint pain.

Unfortunately, the World Anti-Doping Agency is banning the illicit use of cannabis by athletes in sports participation. 

Marketing

Businesses of all scales need to promote their product. The internet seems to be the most effective way of doing so in 2023. Social media channels often prohibit any association with any cannabis product.

It especially affects small-scale businesses as they don’t have large marketing budgets to employ big-time advertising companies.

Banking System

One of the greatest challenges for all plant-touching businesses is not being able to secure funding from banks. While it’s still considered a schedule-1 drug under federal laws, banks won’t avail lending facilities to any cannabis operating business.

Marijuana companies still have to rely on private funding until the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE) is passed.

Increased interest rates from the Federal Reserve will significantly impact cannabis businesses. It impacts the costs of raising capital for a new venture or future growth of an existing company.

Stigma

While most of the world is rooting for 100% legalization of cannabis; the others want it burnt to the ground. The stigma attached to marijuana is still around, but that’s bound to change sooner than later.

For every ten reasons cannabis should be made legal, the naysayers have twenty reasons why it shouldn’t. The negative image that hovers keeps it in a bad light when it should be shining.

The strange thing about human beings is that we tend to disapprove of anything we’re unaware of. We diligently follow the media and hearsay notions until something shows us otherwise.

Thankfully, people are becoming aware of the benefits of marijuana. Other than that, increased knowledge about the plants’ properties influences their purchase requirements. Some want better terpenes or more CBD with less THC or vice versa. 

It poses a challenge for growers as cross-breeding techniques require constant change to align with the consumers’ needs.

The interest in cannabis is certainly expanding in society. More often than not, you’ll hear talks of “Is the weed industry growing?”, “CBD creams,” “THC vapes,” and “how do you grow it?” People are learning about the therapeutic properties and how to harvest the herb from seed.

A Growing Industry with Side Effects

The Marijuana industry is slowly taking its place globally, but it doesn’t come without challenges. Staying aware of the ever-changing state laws is any business’s number one priority.

Communities are warming up to the idea of marijuana as they become more aware of its healing properties. Once the trends are set in stone, the focus wouldn’t be on who likes weed and who doesn’t. It would be that it’s fully legal for all avenues of use.

The cannabis industry is constantly evolving, the challenges could be temporary, or we could battle it for years. Some legalization is better than nothing. Learning all there is to know about marijuana, from seed to smoke, is a great place to start getting in on the trade.

---