Challenges That Face The Cannabis Industry In 2020

The cannabis industry is one of the industries that has shown steady growth over the years. Its market value was USD 7.1 billion in 2019. Projections show that the compound annual growth was expected to be 22.2percent from 2019 to 2025. However, 2020 has been a slow year for most industries due to the Covid-19 pandemic and cannabis has not been spared either. The commendable growth of this industry has made it lucrative over the years. This sector is impacting other areas such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, and beverages. People are now more woke and want to learn what the cannabis market has in store for them. However, the CBD market isn’t that easy to penetrate. Let us explore some of the challenges in this market

The law

Legislation governing the use of cannabis products has been a topic of discussion over the years. Different countries have different laws when it comes to the use of cannabis products. It even gets harder when it comes to a country like the US, which has 50 states with different laws on marijuana legalization. These laws change a lot based on the state, which makes it confusing. The industry faces a lot of challenges because people tasked with passing laws on the use of marijuana do not fully understand CBD products. On the other hand, consumers are yet to understand some of the applications of marijuana products.

Expensive and slow licensing

The cost of licensing in the CBD products in the market depends on the country and the state. Canada legalized the use of recreational marijuana in July 2018. However, the laws and regulations that were passed by inexperienced lawmakers made it hard for small corporations to afford the extreme costs to operate in this budding market, and online space seemed like the only viable option. The same applies to the US market, which has legalized medical marijuana in most states. The first cost that an entrepreneur has to incur is license application and maintenance. The entrepreneur has to put up with operating a business without turning profitable due to the long license wait-time. Sometimes the entrepreneur has to bear all these application fees without a guarantee that a license will be granted.

Marketing and listing rules

Advertising and listing cannabis-derived products is one of the biggest challenges that people have to deal with. Some e-commerce platforms, such as eBay and Amazon, don’t allow sellers to list CBD products on their platforms. Facebook also censors the nature of ads that one can place on its platform. For instance, you are not allowed to use any image of smoke-related accessories, medical or recreational marijuana. Placing CBD-related ads on Google is also censored, and repeated violations may lead to blacklisting of a site. Selling CBD products through a website is one of the best bets at the moment. The listing site must ensure that it gets products from reputable manufacturers if it wants to stand out from the rest. A portable vaporizer comes in handy when you want to use cannabis products irrespective of where you are. Mighty+ vaporizer is a product that passes all tests to guarantee you an awesome experience for CBD products user.

Negative public perception

Many people associate the word marijuana with a highly-toxic drug that leads to mental illnesses. The fact that marijuana is still illegal in some states and countries makes it hard for businesses in this sector to thrive. Most people do not understand the difference between marijuana and hemp, which makes it hard for these products to gain worldwide acceptance. However, some players have been at the forefront to make people understand the cannabis plant better. The CBD industry has been using video conferencing to keep in touch during the Covid-19, which is crucial in advancing education.

Misbranding and adulteration

There are manufacturers out there who are looking for a quick buck. The disparity in the quality of the products that some of these vendors advertise and what they deliver is always a point of concern. Some vendors pose as sellers of ‘pure CBD’ only for them to deliver products that contain more than 0.3percent THC. Resellers who stock products which are adultered or misbranded risk tarnishing their reputation, which makes the market more problematic.

Making the marijuana market full-blown and utilizing its full potential will only happen after handling some of the above challenges. Different players in this industry have to come together and provide lasting solutions to these problems. It may take time before concrete research proves that the use of cannabis products come with multiple health benefits.