2020 will NOT be a good year for some cannabis marketers... The Black Market will be under fire from regulators, enforcement officials, lawmakers, health experts and industry officials in cannabis regulated states.
California has already begun to take efforts to drive down, if not eliminate the illicit growth & sales of cannabis.
An San Diego article said: "With an ongoing vape safety crisis, lack of access to legal banking, sluggish sales, legal and illicit market company raids, big IPOs, bigger valuation busts and mass layoffs, it is safe to say that California's cannabis industry in 2019 experienced ---> a return to earth from the soaring expectations that came after 2018 and recreational legalization.
Though there was a lot of bad news, there is still plenty to look forward to in 2020.
The first bit of good news .......... the market moved from a long-time illicit one to a fully legal one in just a couple of years."
Cities from San Diego to LA have been cracking down, hard, on these Black Market operations. California regulators have mounted dozens of raids against illegal marijuana retailers all across the state.
The state has been under pressure from California's legal industry to do more to stop the underground pot economy, which in Los Angeles and other cities often operates in plain sight.
According to some estimates, roughly 75% of sales in the state remain under the table, snatching profits from legal storefronts.
The GOOD NEWS is that recent reports of revenue projections and a retrospective lookback at the last two years bodes well for 2020 and beyond.
California saw some growth in 2019, with sales reaching $2.96 billion, the report shows...
and cannabis sales in California are expected to grow from $2.96 billion to $3.6 billion for 2020.
It's interesting that as last year's explosive growth was that the growth came amid a fallout in public market valuations, with the stock of numerous public cannabis companies sinking throughout the year.
One industry insider explained "Wall Street often gets is wrong and it tends to get overexcited and over-depressed..." It's really just the crowd mentality - too bullish in 2018 and too bearish in 2019".