Would legalizing marijuana lead to greater profits and a new business venture for many entrepreneurs? As states work out the battle to decriminalize marijuana, some say, this could be the next great business frontier.
Likening it to the computer boom or the organic foods market, Troy Dayton, CEO of the ArcView Group, told HuffPost Live’s Alyona Minkovski that the profitability will only make the industry grow faster.
“This is the next great American industry, and people are reasonably very excited about it,” Dayton said. “If you want to get something done in this world, the best thing is to figure out how to make it profitable and I think that that’s what’s happening in the cannibis industry.”
Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Industries, says he has never seen an industry with such “unique characteristics,” that does pose some issues but could also make it a great potential for non-established investors.
“It’s highly fragmented, the companies are immature, there’s no leaders, there’s no standards,” Kennedy said. “The marketing and branding bar is extremely low and there’s a rapidly changing public perception.”
Whereas a university in Denver now has a class to teach how to properly grow marijuana, there is still much debate about the amount of regulation needed around the use and sale of marijuana.
“The question is where is the industry headed, does medical marijuana and the highly regulated market that comes along with that take the larger foothold,” Dr. Bruce Bedrick, CEO of Medbox asked, confirming that the industry is still very new and opportunity for growth can go in many different directions.
(More Entrepreneurs Entertaining Ventures After Marijuana Legalization)