Medical marijuana sales have grown, competing with companies such as Viagra.
Over the course of eight months, researchers from See Change LLC, a Colorado financial analysis firm, collected data from 300 businesses that either grow or distribute medical marijuana. Their reports show that medical marijuana sales have reached $1.7 billion, despite only being legal in 15 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Compare that figure to Viagra annual sales, which total around $1.9 billion.
"We predict that the current markets will double in the next five years," Ted Rose, editor of the report, said in a conference call on Wednesday. We undertook this effort because we noticed a dearth of reliable market information about this politically charged business."
This is the first time a dollar amount has been associated with the expanding industry and Rose adds that the market has the potential to reach $8.9 billion in the next five years, given that states continue to legalize medical marijuana.
"Hundreds of businesses exist around the country that cultivate and sell marijuana to customers. Many of these businesses emerged in the wake of the Obama administration's decision to deprioritize federal prosecutions of individuals and business complying with state medical marijuana laws," Rose said. "The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011 shows which states represent the most active markets, who is making money, and how are they doing it."
California and Colorado account for 92 percent of medical marijuana sales nationally, according to the report, and sales in Arizona, Michigan, and Washington have a high potential for growth.
Medical marijuana is generally prescribed to alleviate nausea and vomiting associated with treatments used to treat cancer and AIDS. It has also been used to treat glaucoma and gastrointestinal illness.
