Nearly half of U.S. cannabis operators (48%) believe that the cannabis industry is going to perform “somewhat better” or “much better” in the coming year, according Marijuana Business Daily reports.
The survey data, released with the 2024 MJBiz Factbook, also found that 34% of respondents predict the industry will perform “about the same” in the coming year, with just 19% of operators expecting things to get worse.
The data was collected from February 13 to March 15, before the federal government had formally initiated the process of rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. Surveyors collected more than 600 responses from primarily (72%) cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, processors, or retailers, the report said. Additionally, 90% of respondents were either owners, founders, or executives of their company.
The report found that people representing younger companies — particularly companies still in the planning or prelaunch phases of their business — were more optimistic than other operators. People whose businesses had closed were the most pessimistic about the industry, with 25% predicting that the industry will get “somewhat worse” or “a lot worse” in the near future.
Bob Groesbeck, co-CEO of the multistate cannabis operator Planet 13 Holdings said in the report that people tend to enter the industry “with high expectations” but fail to fully understand “how complex this business is.”
“Once you open your doors, you realize there are many challenges, including layers of regulatory changes by different jurisdictions that need to be constantly navigated.” — Groesbeck, via MJBizDaily
Another report published in April found that the cannabis industry tacked on 22,952 new full-time equivalent jobs in 2023 and has grown to support more than 440,000 positions.
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