My grandmother was always fond of saying “The whole world is going to pot.” Little did she know how prophetic those words might be someday.
Several states have now legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and more states are likely to join the party in years to come. This has already given rise to a frenzy of business activity calculated to take advantage of this growing trend. One market study conducted several years ago estimated that the U.S national legal marijuana market was valued at $ 1.53 billion. That number was projected to increase by 68 percent to 2.57 billion this year.
Regardless of where you stand on the issue of legalized marijuana, you can’t deny the numbers. They don’t lie. Marijuana, for better or worse, is truly a “growth” industry. As a result of the growing trend, whole industry sectors are rising, and new businesses are sprouting every day. One of those industries is insurance. For whatever reason, the insurance industry often lags behind the other industries which it serves. Cannabusinesses are no exception.
To be sure, the players involved in the marijuana supply chain, whether they be growers, distributors, or retailers, have all sorts of insurance needs. Traditional forms of insurance like property damage, theft, and liability are still needed, but the list does not end there. Unique and special risks are often associated with many of these “420” businesses, and a lot of those risks stem from the fact that marijuana is still considered an illegal drug under federal law. Nevertheless, companies devoted to serving the specific needs of the cannabis industry, like Cannasure, are beginning to crop up to meet those needs. It’s high time they did.
Written By: Alex Beard
