Cannabis has been more than just the sole focus of our organization, but of hundreds across the country as state prohibition begins to fall like dominos. Looking outwards at the mainstream media, cannabis has emerged as a powerhouse industry to watch from all angles of business development. 2022 was particularly a year to observe cannabis’s immense growth. Following a pandemic that declared the industry overwhelmingly essential, dispensaries have popped up across the country. The concept of cannabis tourism, paired with the ‘mainstream-ificaiton of marijuana’, has carved out space for cannabis retailers as staples of most major cities. What was once a punchline is now a powerhouse, and 2022 captured the growth in an incredible way.
Across entertainment media, cannabis use has largely been a punchline for lazy stereotypes, burnouts, and less desirable characters. Looking at the cannabis media being produced in recent history; however, cannabis has evolved into a lifestyle curiosity. In 2022, we saw the launch of High Design, a dispensary makeover show that lives behind the paywall of Paramount Plus. The show is less Bar Rescue and more design updates, but still features a fabulous design-savvy host providing both practical and aesthetic upgrades to dispensaries in need. Host Kim Myles won HGTV’s Design Star and moved on to focus her efforts on making dispensaries functional retail locations while also being welcoming to the gamut of cannacurious to cannaisseur crowds.
Deeper in the lifestyle category of content, cannabis-infused food shows have begun to roll out and flood content providers with drool-worthy dabs of delicious dishes. Netflix leads the crowd with several cannabis-infused cooking shows, one of which even featured CBD and talk show queen, Ricki Lake. These often feature chefs cooking head-to-head to impress a panel of judges who judge primarily on the taste of infused dishes. Shows like Netflix’s Cooked with Cannabis also feature a hefty prize for the winner in the same amount as their other viral cooking show Nailed It!– $10,000. Does the monetization of a game show create an air of acceptability and even reverence for the cannabis cooks? Perhaps the commonality of seeing others succeed while utilizing and consuming cannabis supports the overall acceptance of cannabis as a respected addition to life rather than an indicator of criminality. Perhaps friendly depictions of cannabis consumers approaching cannabis as an art form and rewarding those who respect its delicate nature support cannabis as a viable passion. Regardless, we’ve certainly come a long way from the likes of ‘Pineapple Express’.
Business-focused media has not been excluded from the mainstream movement of cannabis as well. One of the most credible leaders in business media, Forbes, featured their first cannabis industry leader on the cover of their August/September issue. The Cookies cover story claims Berner as the “$150 Million Cannabis King” and dives into a comprehensive look at the scope of the cannabis industry, flaws and all. While there is certainly praise for the work Berner has done in developing the first luxury brand name in cannabis with Cookies, there are also realistic looks at the restrictions and regulations cannabis operators face. The conversation of the business of cannabis naturally evolves into the analysis of the 280E tax bill with Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers noting that “Trulieve paid $85 million more in taxes than if it had sold, say, furniture”.
The fascination with cannabis as a concept has evolved in the last year to a more fiscal analysis of how viable cannabis may be given current state and federal restrictions. Rivers also muses that “scale isn’t about growth, but rather a matter of survival”. As Trulieve currently operates across multiple states with nearly two hundred dispensaries, the margins continue to be thin due to taxation and regulatory measures. Forbes includes the commentary that “Thanks to overregulation, over-taxation, and state-by-state inconsistencies, the biggest no-brainer in the history of capitalism—legalizing the world’s most popular illicit drug—is turning into a massive market failure”. However, while the outlook is not ideal for now, the horizon is bright as we head into 2023.
Akerna CEO Jessica Billingsley delivered her annual predictions for the coming year article to Benzinga, citing forced differentiators driving healthy competition and brand definition. It is simply not enough to exist as a cannabis operator, an operator must fight to be a staple. She does not cite this as a singular operator effort though- Billingsley also cites 2023 as “the ‘Year of Partnerships’” and brands grow together to support each other’s goals.
While a layman outside of the industry may only digest the ancillary cannabis content showcasing happy faces interacting with the plant, mainstream media is also beginning to respect and even revere cannabis leaders for their bravery in the industry. The overall discussion of how cannabis has become an empire built on a faltering foundation has broken through to mainstream media, hand in hand with cannabis cooking shows. 2023 will certainly be a pivotal year of cannabis progress prior to the 2024 election cycle.
