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Republican-led and conservative-leaning Ohio has become the 24th U.S. state to legalize cannabis for recreational sales, with voters there overwhelmingly approving a ballot measure on Tuesday.
The election result, which could pump as much as $4 billion into the state within a few years per MJBizDaily, comes as a newly released Gallup poll found that a record-breaking 70% of the American public favors legalization.
Meantime, the federal Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that cannabis be taken out of the most restrictive level of scheduled drugs, and the U.S. Senate voted last week to give military veterans government-approved access to medical weed.
Taken as a whole—along with new and expanded marketing avenues like Twitter, Spotify and Pornhub—the recent developments have given the cannabis industry a much-needed shot in the arm.
Ohio’s vote “holds weight in further supporting the normalization of cannabis,” according to Vince C. Ning, co-CEO and co-founder of Nabis, a global wholesale weed distributor.
“With each state that comes online, a more consistent and destigmatized approach emerges, creating a ripple effect,” Ning told Adweek. “Beyond numbers and polls, Ohio’s stance becomes a pivotal chapter in the narrative of the economic evolution of the cannabis industry as a whole.”
And the timing couldn’t be better, coming up to the holidays and the annual sales bonanza called Green Wednesday (also known as the day before Thanksgiving).
Bottom-line boost
There’s a sense of momentum going into the fourth quarter selling period that has value on its own, cannapreneurs say.
But the headlines generated lately around the country and ongoing discussions in Washington D.C., having elevated weed’s profile, could also boost the bottom line by bringing new consumers into the category.
