🌿 Cannabis goes mainstream

Today's OneChart

Here is the statistic that caught most of my attention this week.

More than half of Americans say they have tried cannabis, a figure that has risen from about 4% in 1970 and 30% in 1985.

What is happening?

• The legalization of cannabis and other “light drugs” seems unstoppable.
• More and more countries are shifting their perspectives and changing regulations surrounding cannabis.
• Businesses have jumped on the opportunity to cash in on this multibillion-dollar industry.

Why is this generation defining?

Sales of recreational and medicinal cannabis on the regulated market are expected to reach nearly $50 billion USD by 2025. The industry is booming.

The cannabis vertical could set a precedent for future sales of other drugs, should they become decriminalized or legalized, which is a far cry from the prohibition of the past.

With this, incarceration for minor drug possession could conceivably become extinguished. The disproportionate arrest and imprisonment of people of color in the U.S. could also see a decline.

Back to the business opportunity

THC and CBD, two cannabinoids with different effects, can be found in a vast array of products.

Whether it is a bath bomb infused with CBD or a cookie baked with THC, cannabis innovation delivers an assortment of options to consumers with different needs and wants, some therapeutic and others for fun.

The more normalized cannabis use becomes, the more consumers adopt it as a normal part of life.

Chewing on cannabis gum might soon be as commonplace as drinking a Coca-Cola.

For past generations, this would have been inconceivable. Today? Not so much.