According to ArcView Market Research and New Frontier Data, Massachusetts’ legal cannabis industry could be worth over $1 billion by 2020 with an annual growth rate of 113 percent, driven largely by tourism.
The analysts are forecasting $52 million in growth in 2016 solely from medical sales, while the $1.07 billion figure in 2020 is from both adult-use and medical markets.
Troy Dayton, CEO of the ArcView Group, indicated that Boston’s location – about 200 miles from New York City – will make Beantown “the cannabis capital of the world in short order.”
“Unlike other places where cannabis is legal, Boston is within driving distance of many of the most populous places in America,” Dayton said in a press release. “This cannabis tourism will drive significant revenue, tax dollars, and job growth which will make legalization very attractive to neighboring states.”
Although the rules guiding the program have yet to be developed by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, the analysts say, as written, the “broad parameters of the law create an opportunity for an open and expansive market.”
“As one of only two states on the East Coast to legalize cannabis for adult use, Massachusetts represents a significant opportunity for business owners and entrepreneurs in the space,” New Frontier Data CEO and Founder Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer said. “The law does not limit product forms nor does it cap retail dispensary licenses, which are both factors that will positively contribute toward the billion dollars in sales projected by 2020.”
The state’s legal market is expected to roll out in 2018. Some provisions, including those for possession, are already effective.