According to some cannabis industry experts, the U.S. CBD market could reach between $2.1 billion and $3 billion by 2021, according to a Forbes report. The Hemp Business Journal estimates that hemp-based sales would represent $450 million of that figure — a 700 percent increase from 2016.
In 2015, hemp-derived CBD products comprised $90 million worth of sales, while the market for marijuana-derived CBD products reached $112 million.
CBD isn’t explicitly defined under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and in 2003 the DEA lost a court case brought by The Hemp Association over their attempts to add CBD to the Schedule list. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 amended the Controlled Substances Act to exclude hemp, which includes hemp-based CBD.
Medical Marijuana Inc. indicated that the hemp-based CBD market has already begun transforming, explaining that four years ago, customers paid $1.25 per milligram but were buying less. Now, customers are buying more, but pay 2.5 cents per milligram.
Four years ago, Medical Marijuana Inc. was one of the few large-scale CBD sellers in the U.S. with $14.5 million in total sales. Medical Marijuana Inc. earned $3.4 million in CBD sales during 2013 and estimate they’ll make about $9 million from CBD sales in 2016.
General Hemp, the venture capital firm that has a majority interest in Medical Marijuana, Inc., made $34 million from 2014 to 2016 from CBD sales.