Overview of 2020 Cannabis Ballot Measures: Potential to Add 21 Million as Legal Consumers in the U.S.

By Martin Wahl, Vice President, Lee Enterprises Consulting

Special to The Digest

This is the first in a series of articles being prepared by Lee Enterprises Consulting experts addressing opportunities and concerns for the growing hemp and cannabis industries. Topics will include cultivation, feedstock management, project financing, offtake agreement processing and product development with a focus on scaling up resulting from expanded production to meet the growing demand likely through accelerated mergers and acquisitions in addition to investment in new entities.

Investment in the cannabis sector dried up earlier this year in response to the Covid pandemic, and pent-up demand will likely be unleashed in 2021. Per Veridian’s Cannabis Deal Tracker, total capital raised by end of 3Q20, $2.9B, pales in comparison to 2019’s $10.5B. The industry has suffered capital starvation throughout 2020, despite increased consumer-level demand during the pandemic, and the nation is replete…