Marijuana Industry Research Articles

Half Banked: The Economic Impact of Cash Management in the Marijuana Industry

ABSTRACTWe investigate the economic value of cash management. In the legal marijuana industry, where only half of businesses have access to cash management services from a financial institution, we examine dispensary profitability using administrative and survey data. Our results show that businesses with cash management charge higher retail prices (8.3%), pay lower wholesale prices (7.3%), and have higher sales volume (19%). Together, these advantages create a 40% increase in profitability. These results support our model in which reputational capital and administrative costs drive profitability regardless of whether national banks, credit unions, or fintech provide the cash management functions.

Recreational marijuana: Ethical positions and consumption status in explaining attitudes, perceived law ethicalness, and perceived corporate social responsibility

AbstractDrawing from the Ethics Position theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study was conducted with a comprehensive four‐part goal. It seeks to explore the moderating influences of the consumption status and ethical positions in elucidating (i) individuals' attitude toward recreational marijuana consumption, (ii) individuals' perceived ethical stance regarding recreational marijuana legalization, (iii) individuals' CSR perception of firms operating within the marijuana industry often deemed as morally contentious, and (iv) the interrelationships among the aforementioned variables. Based on a sample of 411 Canadians and two grouping variables, ANOVA tests and a structural Equation Modeling were used to test the research hypotheses. The results show that individuals' attitudes toward the consumption of marijuana, perceived ethicalness of legalizing it, and perceived CSR significantly vary across the three groups of consumption status (i.e., non‐consumer, occasional, and regular) and the four groups of ethical positions (i.e., absolutism, exceptionism, situationism, and subjectivism). The SEM results, however, show that, except for a few cases, there were no notable variations in the model's path coefficients among the identified groups. This study has intriguing implications for academicians, practitioners, politicians, managers, social welfare activists, and other stakeholders.

Stress, Mental Health, and Coping Among Workers in the Northern California Cannabis Industry: A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis.

California is home to a multibillion-dollar cannabis (marijuana) industry, but little is known about the occupational health and safety hazards faced by cannabis workers and even less of the stress, mental health, and coping mechanisms among these workers. Previous research has been based on long-term workers at legal businesses, but most California cannabis is produced and sold unlawfully. There are many seasonal workers whose experiences have not been studied. A qualitative study based on focus group discussions and key informant interviews was performed to understand cannabis workers' experiences, knowledge, and perceptions of occupational hazards. Participants reported sources of stress including production pressure and isolation, and mental health outcomes such as depression and mental fatigue. They described primarily maladaptive coping mechanisms. Unique characteristics of the cannabis industry, including criminalization and isolated, remote farms, make interventions challenging. However, policy approaches that involve community organizations could promote worker health.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

New York's legal recreational marijuana industry is not going well. The huge state has opened only 12 dispensaries. The black market is rampant. Farmers who replanted their food crops with marijuana now have more product than they know what to do with. Last year's harvest is still waiting to be sold, and it's time for another harvest. Farmer's markets may be the next best option. It's not only New York — other states have the same problem. But in New York, dispensaries were only going to be awarded to people who could show they had been jailed for marijuana possession, which took time, so even though recreational use was legal, there was no legal dispensary. “Unlicensed shops rushed in to fill the void,” Fortune magazine reported last week. Now, it's a losing battle for farmers, as last year's “flower” may soon become too old to even sell. For the Fortune magazine article, go to https://fortune.com/2023/06/05/pot‐farmers‐going‐broke‐growing‐new‐york‐legal‐weed‐market‐not‐taking‐off/.

Experiences of structural violence and wage theft among immigrant workers in the California cannabis industry

The multibillion-dollar California cannabis (Cannabis sativa, marijuana) industry employs an unknown number of seasonal workers, including many immigrants. Most production occurs in the remote, rural, far-northern counties where farms may be hours by vehicle from the nearest town. While licenses for cannabis cultivation became available following legalization in California for adult recreational use in 2016, most cannabis—about 80%—is still grown on unlicensed farms. Cannabis is a labor-intensive crop, and the skilled and time-consuming task of hand-trimming flow­ers is the most common seasonal job in the indus­try. Some immigrant workers return for multiple cannabis harvest seasons and are attracted to the work by an interest in the cannabis culture and consumption or the opportunity to earn enough money in several months to live the rest of the year in their home country. Others are farmworkers moving from work in traditional crops for the rela­tively higher pay in the cannabis industry. Seasonal cannabis workers are exposed to many of the phys­ical hazards found in all agricultural workplaces, like dust, pesticides, and injuries; another common­ality with California’s traditional agricultural work­force is vulnerability to structural violence stem­ming from factors related to race, gender, immigra­tion status, and employer/employee power imbal­ance. Cannabis workers are also uniquely affected by the intersections of these structural fac­tors with the isolated and remote nature of canna­bis farms and the ongoing criminalization of the industry. In this article we present the results of a qualitative study of the occupational health and safety of Mexican and South American immigrant seasonal cannabis workers who have previous can­nabis-industry-specific skills and experience. Work­ers were recruited using a peer-recruitment method, with 25 participants in three online focus group discussions on a range of occupational health and safety topics. This qualitative descriptive analysis is focused on experiences of structural vio­lence and wage theft.

Government Investment in the Marijuana Industry’s Commercial Interests Harms Vulnerable Groups

Government Investment in the Marijuana Industry’s Commercial Interests Harms Vulnerable Groups Linda Richter PhD, Robyn Oster BA, and Lindsey Vuolo JD, MPH Affiliation All authors are with the Partnership to End Addiction, New York, NY. CopyRightCorrespondence should be sent to Linda Richter, Partnership to End Addiction, 711 Third Ave, 5th Floor, Suite 500, New York, NY 10017 (e-mail: [email protected]org). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link. CONTRIBUTORS All authors contributed to conceptualizing, drafting, and revising this editorial and approved the final version. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307257 Accepted: February 04, 2023 Published Online: March 16, 2023

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Last month — although it could have been any time over the past few decades because her view has been consistent — Maia Szalavitz wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times recommending a revamping of “our entire drug policy,” but focusing on marijuana and scheduling it as a legal drug instead of keeping it on Schedule I, where it is now. ADAW obtained and is printing the response from Smart Approaches to Marijuana that President and CEO Kevin Sabet, Ph.D. wrote as a letter to the editor, but the Times did not print. “Ms. Szalavitz is misguided in her understanding of drug scheduling and her downplaying of the harms of today's marijuana, which greatly increases the risk for psychosis, schizophrenia, IQ loss, and other consequences. Drug scheduling is not a harm index. Though heroin causes more overdose deaths than marijuana, their shared Schedule 1 status is not incongruent. Schedule 1 drugs are defined as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical benefit, a position the Obama administration upheld for marijuana in 2015. It does not mean heroin and marijuana are equally dangerous. Her column rightly expresses concern about the consolidation of the marijuana industry by the pharmaceutical, alcohol, and tobacco industries –– they have already invested billions in marijuana. Yet, rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule VI drug, as she suggested, would result in a similar outcome at the state level. Today's marijuana is much more harmful, and legalizing allows mass commercialization. No matter how marijuana is scheduled, well‐funded interests will work to consolidate their market share and grow profits. Society should discourage use, not downplay dangers.”

Women in the Marijuana Industry

This paper explores the experiences of women involved with rural marijuana production in Northern California. Using grounded theory analysis, my research explores patterns and trends in the daily lives of women participants in the growing community. Multiple dimensions are explored, highlighting divisions of labor, gender, social networking, and elements of power and class. My research aims to provide a rich and highly textured portrait of various women as they operate from different positions within a legally ambiguous economy. Though the federal government continues to judge marijuana cultivation and distribution to be illegal, the marijuana industry thrives in the progressively tolerant California state environment where it is emerging as a significant source of commerce.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

The discussions about rescheduling marijuana, currently on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is reserved for illegal drugs, have been enthusiastic and resulted in a public relations boost for President Biden, who proposed it. The commercial marijuana industry, economists, politicians, have all weighed in with approval. So has the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The only skeptics are in the prevention field, notably Kevin Sabet. It's a juggernaut which is going to be hard to stop. The assumption that young people will not use marijuana should be tempered by lessons learned about alcohol. In the meantime, Circle K, a chain of gas stations, says that it will start selling marijuana shortly. As Sabet says, “what could go wrong?” But Sabet and his organization, Operation SAM, are going to fight this.

The munchies: Marijuana legalization and food sales in Washington

AbstractThis paper uses the differential timing and varying degree of recreational marijuana access across Washington counties to estimate the relationship between recreational marijuana sales and food sales. Using panel event study design methods over a period that covers the emergence of Washington's retail marijuana industry, we find a statistically significant increase in taxable food sales without evidence of an increase in or substitution away from other food categories. Specifically, the introduction of recreational marijuana sales increases per capita taxable food sales by 5% to 6% and a 1% increase in marijuana sales increases per capita taxable food sales by 0.018%. These findings imply there may be additional tax revenue and health costs that need to be included in the recreational marijuana debate.

Psilocybin: Next to treat depression, OCD and nicotine addiction

First it was the plant, cannabis. How could this be made into a saleable profit‐making commodity when it grows in the ground? Witness the marijuana (a chemical from the plant) industry, which lobbied to make sure laws in states that legalized it banned people from growing more than a few plants.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Marijuana, it turns out, is not necessarily the eco‐friendly substance people make it out to be. On Politico last week, writers explained that between the energy for lights and the water consumption, the burgeoning marijuana industry threatens the planet, despite its image. “For being such a ‘green’ industry, there's some skeletons in the closet,” said Kaitlin Urso, an environmental consultant with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Senator Edward Markey (D‐Mass.) referred to “energy vampires.” For the article, go to https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/10/weed‐cannabis‐legalization‐energy‐503004.

Priorities for Medical Marijuana Research from the Perspective of Physicians, Dispensary Owners/Staff, and Patients: A Survey Study

Objective: More patients are turning to medical marijuana as an alternative treatment, yet there are apparent knowledge gaps on the risk benefit of medical marijuana for a variety of indications. This study aimed to determine the priorities for medical marijuana research from the perspective of multiple stakeholders including patients, clinicians, and industry representatives. Methods: An anonymous survey was administered to attendees of the 2019 American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Respondents completed the survey on paper or smartphone via Qualtrics. The survey included questions on demographics and medical marijuana research priorities under the following broad categories: clinical conditions, safety issues, marijuana types, populations, and others. Results: Forty-six participants (56.5% female, mean age = 51.6 ± 14.1) responded to the survey. A majority were medical marijuana qualified physicians in Florida (56.5%), 30.5% other physicians or clinicians, and 21.7% medical marijuana patients (multiple choices allowed). The top conditions prioritized for research by this group were chronic pain, cancer, and anxiety, and the top priority safety issues were dosing/product choice, complications from smoking/vaping, and drug interactions. Regarding marijuana types, the group prioritized research on THC/CBD ratios, different modes of consumption, and terpenes. Conclusions: Findings from this survey indicate that medical marijuana stakeholders perceived a broad range of research topics as priorities. More research is needed to advance the evidence in these areas and provide guidance to patients, physicians, and the medical marijuana industry.

Taxation and market power in the legal marijuana industry

AbstractWe study tax and regulatory policy in the legal marijuana market using unique administrative data from Washington state. Washington's retail entry restrictions have resulted in firms with substantial market power who behave like local monopolists. We show how the presence of market power causes tax and regulatory policy recommendations to differ from standard models that assume perfect competition. Combining structural demand models with measured pass‐through, we show that marijuana is not overtaxed at 37% but is still on the upward sloping region of the Laffer curve and that these taxes have high social costs and are mainly borne by consumers.

The Evident Need for Banking Reform in the Legal Marijuana Industry

Marijuana reform legislation has created a lucrative industry for legal marijuana on the local and state level in some jurisdictions. Federal laws have forced legal marijuana dispensaries to be cash-only businesses with limited banking options. The lack of normal banking services has also affected firms’ ability to manage profits earned from operations. Our hermeneutic phenomenological study was grounded by the conceptual framework of the motivations of humans and humans’ need to feel safe. The participants in this study were owners and operators in the legal marijuana industry in Colorado. Data were collected through interviews, although the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020 made data collection more challenging because of the added pressure on potential participants. The data analysis plan for this study consisted of transcribing and reviewing the data, coding themes and supporting themes, and synthesizing and reporting findings from the data collected. The study’s findings included the participants’ concerns about safety in their cash-only operations, their methods for conducting business, and the banking options available to them. Common themes that emerged from the interviews were cash, banking, safety, and the limitations of business size. Findings from my study contribute to fostering positive social change on the organization and industry level by providing accounts of how owners and operators navigate the banking dilemma in the legal marijuana industry.

The Evident Need for Banking Reform in the Legal Marijuana Industry

Marijuana reform legislation has created a lucrative industry for legal marijuana on the local and state level in some jurisdictions. Federal laws have forced legal marijuana dispensaries to be cash-only businesses with limited banking options. The lack of normal banking services has also affected firms’ ability to manage profits earned from operations. Our hermeneutic phenomenological study was grounded by the conceptual framework of the motivations of humans and humans’ need to feel safe. The participants in this study were owners and operators in the legal marijuana industry in Colorado. Data were collected through interviews, although the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020 made data collection more challenging because of the added pressure on potential participants. The data analysis plan for this study consisted of transcribing and reviewing the data, coding themes and supporting themes, and synthesizing and reporting findings from the data collected. The study’s findings included the participants’ concerns about safety in their cash-only operations, their methods for conducting business, and the banking options available to them. Common themes that emerged from the interviews were cash, banking, safety, and the limitations of business size. Findings from my study contribute to fostering positive social change on the organization and industry level by providing accounts of how owners and operators navigate the banking dilemma in the legal marijuana industry.

The Lost Paradise of Colombia's Marijuana Smugglers

Lina Britto’s book, Marijuana Boom: The Rise and Fall of Colombia’s First Drug Paradise, spotlights the growth of the marijuana industry in Colombia’s northern Guajira peninsula and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region in response to the growing demand bred by the rise of the 1960s counterculture. Part of a longer history of agrarian modernization, the marijuana boom was a dramatic turning point in the history of Colombia, which transformed the country from a coffee republic into one of the world’s principal producers of drugs. The drug business brought with it a unique culture and greater economic integration with the United States. By the late 1970s, the Guajira peninsula and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region had also become an experimental laboratory for the War on Drugs. The consequences were overwhelmingly negative, as violent competition over control of the drug trade corrupted Colombia’s political structure, and the drug war...

Denver’s Green Mile: Marijuana gentrification as a process of urban change

ABSTRACT Does recreational marijuana legalization have the potential to transform urban spaces? Using Denver’s “Green Mile” as a case study, this study explores the potential for marijuana legalization to encourage the creation of thematic urban spaces. More specifically, the analysis contributes to understandings of gentrification by suggesting that commodified vice (i.e., marijuana) can function as a driver of gentrification, when accompanied by the evolution of societal (or gentrifier) perceptions. Utilizing a grounded theory method, we describe a specific type of commercial gentrification—marijuana gentrification—characterized by economic change and displacement due to the infusion of marijuana-related businesses and associated symbology into an area. Major elements of this process include: (1) commodification supported by the middle and upper classes that in turn serves as a magnet for other businesses frequented by the more affluent, (2) signs and symbols associated with a marijuana-themed environment that carry meanings appealing to particular urban gentrifiers, and (3) people attracted by, and with access to, the marijuana industry sharing the classic traits of gentrifiers. Explicating this process contributes to literature related to the impacts of marijuana legalization on urban spaces and adds to research on gentrification and thematic urban districts, by introducing legalized marijuana as a material foundation for both.

Half Banked: The Economic Impact of Cash Management in the Marijuana Industry

We investigate the economic consequences of access to banking institutions. To do so, we examine the legal marijuana industry, where only half of businesses have access to cash management services from a financial institution. We quantify the benefits of cash management in terms of differences in wholesale prices, retail prices, sales, and ultimately profitability using administrative and survey data. Firms with cash management receive a 10\% discount on wholesale prices, charge 10\% higher retail prices, and sell more product per transaction for the same product. Through these channels, we find that banking services provide a large economic value to firms.

Anti‐legalization advocate opens window into harms of commercial marijuana

Accounts of marijuana‐associated harms that came as a surprise even to someone long immersed in the policy debate inspired Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., to write a book chronicling developments around marijuana over the past decade. Sabet, founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), hopes Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn't Want You to Know will influence policymakers and the public at a time when opinion on legalization remains deeply divided at both the federal and state levels.