More Americans Ready To Put Money Into Cannabis Investments…

December
26, 2019

3 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Survey after survey has found a majority of Americans favor marijuana legalization. Now, a new study finds Americans are also willing to back the legal marijuana industry with their cash, too.

In a survey of 800 American investors, GOBankingrates asked about views on legalized marijuana and willingness to add cannabis stocks to their investment mix. They found that 49 percent are willing to put their money into cannabis stocks, and that some have already done so — even as federal legalization in the U.S. is still questionable.

The reported stated: “The results demonstrated that, despite people’s concerns about the future of the legal cannabis industry, about half of Americans have already started making investments or are open to investing in pot stocks down the line.”

RELATED: California Marijuana Taxes Will Increase New Year’s Day

Key Findings Show Support For Cannabis, Even Though It Remains Illegal At Federal Level

As noted by the study, one in four Americans now live where cannabis is legal for recreational use. In all, 33 states have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use, even as the federal government continues to keep it illegal.

There are efforts by members of the U.S. Congress to legalize marijuana at the national level, but passage of these bills seems unlikely with a currently controlled Republican Senate.

The GOP opposition runs contrary to the opinions expressed by voters in polls and investors in the GObankingrates survey. Here are some of the key findings of that survey.

• Two-thirds of those surveyed said the federal government should legalize cannabis at the national level. 
• About 10 percent are already investing in cannabis stocks, despite uncertainty regarding federal legalization.
• One-third said they would invest in cannabis stocks if the industry was legal at the national level. Of those, 27 percent said they would invest $1,000 or more.
• In total, 49 percent said they are open to investing in cannabis, or are already investing.

On the negative side for the cannabis industry, about 51 percent of study participants said they would not invest in the industry. About one-third said they would never invest in cannabis, even if it became legal nationwide.

RELATED: Meet Three Women Who Are Disrupting The Canna-business

Americans In All Demographics Support Cannabis Legalization

The willingness by investors to buy cannabis stocks mirrors the growing support for legalized marijuana among the general public. For example, the latest survey by Pew Research Center found that two-thirds of the country favor cannabis legalization. The percentage of U.S. adults opposed to legalization has fallen from 52 percent in 2010 to 32 percent in 2019.

Most notably, that survey found support from a variety of people. No matter what demographic is isolated — political party affiliation, race, gender or age — the majority favor federal legalization of cannabis. That includes the following groups below, with the percentage of who favors legalization. 

• Democrats (78 percent)
• Republicans (55 percent)
• Men (68 percent)
• Women (65 percent)
• White (68 percent)
• Black (67 percent)
• Hispanic (63 percent)
• Baby Boomers (63 percent)
• Generation X (65 percent)
• Millennials (76 percent)

Whether politicians in Washington catch up to this trend remains to be seen. But the GObankingrates survey shows that investors are ready if and when they do.

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana-related news make sure to like dispensaries.com on Facebook