Can a cannabis dealer transition from the legacy market into the legal space?
Updated Apr 29, 2021;
The cannabis industry often provides projections on the billions that are made by the adult-use and medical market. There is, however, a projection that’s often left out of the conversation when it comes to legalized cannabis — the economics of the legacy market that came before it and bore the brunt of the casualties in the War on Drugs.
An estimated $4.6 billion in annual cannabis sales happen in New York alone, the majority of which is driven by that very same market, and the integration of that market into a legalized one is an absolute must, says Dasheeda Dawson, the Cannabis Health Equity Movement (CHEM) chief strategy officer and co-founder of the Cannabis Education Advocacy Symposium & Expo (CEASE). Dawson also runs the Weedhead & Company, a lifestyle cannabis brand that’s structured around education and e-commerce.