The legal cannabis industry is still in its early days, yet it supports enough jobs to populate the state of Wyoming. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal cannabis workforce is already about half the number of that in mining or utilities. Across the industry, from budtender to extraction scientist, these are steady jobs that often offer competitive wages and benefits. As the cannabis workforce grows and becomes a larger part of the tax base, we believe politicians will focus more attention and see the benefits in alignment with the industry.

Sacramento has collected more than $1 billion in cannabis excise, cultivation, and state sales taxes. Most of the tax proceeds have funded social programs like childcare for low-income families, cannabis research, and public safety grants. Notional tax revenue from legal cannabis sales is significant even in the face of competition from an entrenched illegal market. The cost of compliance and price competition from the illegal market has created a difficult environment for legal cannabis operators in California (and throughout the country), but we are encouraged by recent comments and suggestions from Governor Gavin Newsom aimed at leveling the playing field for legal cannabis companies. Government entities stand to benefit from the tax revenue generated by legal cannabis sales. We believe there is a “win-win” opportunity for government to craft policies favorable to legal cannabis operators. Thus, we believe compliant cannabis companies will be the industry’s long-term winners.