Will Cannabis Save America?

Cannabis industry shows significant growth in employment!

With Covid running rampant in the world and whole industries only beginning to reactivate, there’s been a significant toll not only on human health, but the health of the economy as well. For example, according to a recent study, roughly 60 million claims have been filed for unemployment insurance.

This is also the beginning of the compounding effect that Covid will have on the economy as Deutsche

However, it’s important to understand that not all of these unemployment claims are due to a “loss of employment”, many Americans have decided to change careers during the pandemic as well. Irrespective of the reasoning, we have seen a major decline in several industries including food, retail, entertainment venues and much more.

Nonetheless, despite seeing massive declines almost across the board, the only industry that has seen any growth (apart from the Pharmaceutical Industry) – is the cannabis industry. Last year the industry grew a whopping 32% and added over 77,000 jobs to the sector.

This was according to a Leafly 2021 Jobs Report.

In other words, many people are quitting their jobs and migrating to legal cannabis. A Business Insider Article highlighted one such a transition by Jason Zvokel who left his job as a Pharmacist in Walgreens to work in a dispensary.

Essentially Zvokel took a 5% pay cut compared to his previous job, however – the workload is far less stressful and according to him, “He’s excited to go to work!”

The cannabis industry, that currently employs roughly 321,000 Americans will continue to see growth as things get legalized on a federal scale. However, will this be enough to avoid a major recession similar to the Great Depression?

Here’s Jimmy with the Forecast…

In order to understand if the Cannabis Industry will be able make a dent in the overall losses occurred through Covid, we’ll have to take a closer look at the economic forecast.

The following is taken from “The Conference Board” that has this to say about the Economic Forecast of the US;

“The Conference Board forecasts that US Real GDP growth will slow to 5.5 percent (annualized rate) in Q3 2021, vs. 6.6 percent growth in Q2 2021, and that 2021 annual growth will come in at 5.9 percent (year-over-year). This forecast is a downgrade from our August outlook and incorporates the larger-than-expected impact that the COVID-19 Delta variant has had on the US economy. Looking further ahead, we forecast that the US economy will grow by 3.8 percent (year-over-year) in 2022 and 3.0 percent (year-over-year) in 2023.”

In other words, over the following years, we’ll see a slower growth factor in the US economy at large. This is partly due to the fear of spending from consumers and loss of confidence in the ability to engage with regular activities.

The Mandates being pushed by the Biden Administration could further negatively impact the economy as it could mean mass layoffs to those who will not comply with the mandate. The question remains, how strict this mandate will be enforced.

Nonetheless, the loss of income on a large portion of the country will definitely impact the economy in general.

Some estimates put the potential losses in the Trillions of dollars. Of course, these estimates are generated by doing some clever mathematics.

Not to mention;

“Bottlenecks in global supply chains made it difficult for businesses to keep up with elevated demand for many goods earlier this year, resulting in a sharp contraction in private inventories. We expect this trend to reverse over the coming months as the December holiday period approaches, and forecast a rebound in private inventories. However, the pace of restocking will be slower than previously anticipated as the Delta variant has hindered manufacturing and shipping activity in key economies around the world.” – The Conference Board

How much is the Cannabis industry worth per annum?

We know for a fact that the economy is going to take a hit and potentially will raise the debt significantly. How much will the cannabis industry help reduce the impact?

According to “Research and Markets”, “The global cannabis market is estimated to be valued at USD 20.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 90.4 billion by 2026, recording a CAGR of 28%, in terms of value.”

While this is an impressive feat, it’s painfully obvious that the cannabis industry would not be able to offset the losses endured by the pandemic. When we add Hemp to the mix, we’re talking at about $115 Billion per year by 2027.

Of course, with international trade also becoming a possibility during this time – these figures could go up, however – we can safely say that even if all the losses of the pandemic were to rake up $1 Trillion dollars’ worth of damage – the cannabis industry would ten years to fill that hole. In all likeliness, the actual cost of the Pandemic would be in the high tens-of-trillions of dollars.

The cannabis industry will certainly be able to employ a great number of people, but even there – we’ll see that the market will soon saturate and there will be millions without jobs in the coming years. The impact this will have on the economy will also be severe.

So what can we do?

Right now – federally legalizing cannabis and getting it onto a global platform seems to be one of the smartest economic choices available at the moment. With the US withdrawing from Afghanistan, and hopefully not reengaging with a new “enemy” in the following years – the savings on the cost of the War could offset some of the economic damages caused by the pandemic.

As for you? I’d probably start planting some food in my garden and becoming very proficient at canning things. I’m not saying that we’ll reach Depression Level Recession – but never say never!

I for one have been more focused on becoming self-sufficient in terms of food production, medicine production and even creating multiple revenue streams. You never know when shit may hit the fan and having a few chickens around laying you a few dozen eggs per week can be “money” when there’s none to be found.

On the other hand, growing some killer bud is always a solid way of making money – either way, growing stuff might be a good side hobby in the coming year.