While the passage of the MORE Act would certainly expand cannabis markets in the U.S., Weedmaps CEO Chris Beals thinks that a bigger obstacle lies in the 37 states where the substance is already legal for adult use.
“The single biggest issue facing legalized cannabis markets… is that there’s just not enough licenses,” Beals told Yahoo Finance Live (video above), adding that consumers are still choosing the illicit market over the legal one “by a four-to-one ratio.”
As a result, “a lot of the harm that’s being inflicted is not from the federal illegality,” Beals said, “It’s from states not issuing enough licenses because the biggest correlating factor to these high illicit market rates is you have to drive too far or there’s not enough robust competition on pricing or product selection.”
NIMBYism curbing marijuana market growth
…… “The biggest reason is local NIMBYism,” Beals said. “Most states that have legalized have left it up to local governments, which tend to be slower to move and more conservative.” (NIMBYism, which stems from the acronym for ‘Not In My Backyard,’ refers to local residents who oppose development projects in their area.) [Read More @ Yahoo Finance]
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