According to a press release, ChineseInvestors.com, a Chinese-language financial information website for investors in China and North America, intends to launch a show on the cannabis sector’s opportunities for investment. With the anticipated growth of a legal market for cannabis – stemming from new legislation in parts of the United States, former illicit users, and new consumers – the legal cannabis industry in the US has been forecast to be worth US$50 billion (C$67 billion) by 2026, up from the current US$6 billion.
The website’s CEO, noting the US$21.1 billion in spending that came from 1.8 million Chinese tourists to the US in 2015, believes “many of these tourists” may want to invest in the market. Cannabis for recreational purposes was legalized in California under the passing of Proposition 64 on November 8, with 56% of votes for and 44% opposed. The percentage of Americans living where cannabis usage is legal has thus risen from 5% to 20% due to recent votes in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada.
The cannabis industry has emerged as a new, large sector in many American states, with 1,250 retailers in Los Angeles and San Diego alone. In some ways, China is well-positioned as an investor: in 2014, companies from China held 309 of the 600 patents relating to cannabis registered with the United Nations.