Adding nine states to the list of “medical” states would bring access to legal medical cannabis up by an additional 70 million American consumers in those states.
Of course, not everything is rosy between and among cannabis advocates, a diverse group with its own versions of liberals and moderates. Ruptures appear in such issues as legalization vs. decriminalization; what the appropriate use is of federal taxes for interstate commerce; banking reform; prioritization of social-equity programs; expungement procedures; and investments in cannabis research.
Among the states themselves, New Frontier projects California, New York and Florida by 2030 will be the largest legal markets, with Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania “close behind.” Meanwhile, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania – states with the most consumers – are likely to legalize adult use in the next few years, while Texas and North Carolina may approve full medical programs by 2025, New Frontier projects.
Not surprisingly, New Frontier looked at prices, particularly for cannabis flower. It reported that the oldest adult-use markets, meaning Colorado, Washington and Oregon, have experienced some of the steepest price declines. Since 2010, average prices have fallen 30 percent. Newer markets, on the East Coast, are also seeing falling prices, with dispensaries in Massachusetts, faced with an oversupply of cannabis, suffering price drops as severe as 50 percent since last year at the same time.