$ISOLF is based out of Carlsbad, California.
Fact. California’s population of 39.2 million is 45% larger than its 6 nearest MJ states combined, with an aggregate number of residence in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington equaling 27.3 million. Simply put, California’s population is absolutely massive. And that population will be, unequivocally, the driving force in the cannabis movement throughout the US.
The $5 billion market. Let’s compare California with Colorado. California is approximately seven times larger in population than Colorado. In addition, tourism in California in 2016 exceeded 251 million visitors, and in Colorado it was approximately 82 million. Similar to California, Colorado was a medicinal cannabis state when in 2014 it ushered in Adult-Use (a/k/a “recreational”) cannabis sales to the general public. California has been a medicinal cannabis state since 1996 and in less than 60 days will usher in Adult-Use cannabis. In 2016 California sales of medicinal cannabis were approximately $2.7 billion and are expected to be approximately $3.6 billion in 2017. Colorado total sales (medicinal and Adult-Use) in 2016 were approximately $1.2 billion, and reports state that within the first ten months of 2017 Colorado has already surpassed the $1 billion sales mark. If we use the above variables (population, tourism, commencement of Adult-Use cannabis), it’s highly probable in 2018 California will exceed $5 billion in cannabis sales.
Rules, Regulations & Licenses. There is no empirical data available that provides accurate statistics on the number of nurseries, growers, manufactures and dispensaries of cannabis-related products in California. But a “back of the napkin” approach is that at least 70% and probably closer to 90% of the growers, manufacturers, and dispensaries in California will either not be properly licensed in the next 60 days, or will not be able to provide clear “chain of title” relating to the cannabis sold. This is a state requirement that is anticipated to be strongly enforced by the State of California as it implements “Track & Trace”, a methodology that allows the state to follow all cannabis products from the seed, through manufacturing, to the dispensary.
Quality Above All Else. The current shortage of cannabis production in California that is capable of passing laboratory testing, a 2018 state requirement in order to sell to dispensaries, is staggering. According to the Los Angeles Times more than 80% of sampled cannabis grown in California was contaminated with pesticides, fungicides and/or infestation. Consequently, the majority of cannabis grown in California would not pass the proposed 2018 safe levels of purity.
The Big Short(age). It now boils down to simply economics. The demand for cannabis in California in 2018 is expected to increase by about 50% from 2017, and the number of properly licensed cannabis growers and sellers will decrease by at least the same percentage. Unlike any other time in California’s history, the State of California will be regulating all things Cannabis. The State of California is notorious for getting what it wants – and starting in 2018 it wants cannabis tax revenue.
