The 7 big suppliers of Medical Marijuana in the United States

 

Every time 4/20 or April 20 rolls in, marijuana enthusiasts and suppliers call it a red-letter day. It’s the official unofficial holiday for marijuana advocates, fans, and suppliers.

Celebrations across the nation happen where crowds can number thousands. Businesses related to the marijuana industry display their wares to attract the most attention and sales.

In Colorado alone, the progressive marijuana laws of the state celebrate on public parks or properties. Stoners lighting up to celebrate a brand-new era for cannabis are given a free hand and freedom to indulge.

Historic holidays such as this, unheard of for the past 59 years before cannabis emancipation see vendors cashing in as well. The cannabis business is on its way or already on its way to earning billions of dollars per year. It is also anticipated to rake in $10 billion a year by 2018.

Only Washington DC and four other states have legalized recreational marijuana with 23 states for legal medical marijuana use. Even with this support, there are still a lot of political and legal hurdles for cannabis before it is home free. All this can be rather controversial, but you can find out more about the legalization to bring some questions to light.

Some of the toughest obstacles the cannabis business has to face are the zero banking options and issues on federal taxation. Yet, despite this, nothing could seem to stop marijuana from earning big bucks every year.

With this said, what cannabis companies or suppliers celebrate the most every year? Here are the big seven that seems to have established a stronghold on the burgeoning business:

 

Eaze

It’s an app that can deliver your cannabis supply right to your doorstep as long as your state legalizes marijuana. The company’s far from being a billion dollar business yet but it is fast going there. It recently announced an influx of Series A funding worth $10 million coming from venture capital firms. Rumor has it that one of the financiers is an avid pot fan and a well-known rapper as well.

 

MedMen

Adam Bierman, the managing partner of MedMen wants the company to be known as “the Four Seasons of pot”. He envisions a future where the consulting firm and marijuana management become trusted names in the field. The main focus of the supply is in Nevada where they are talking about managing licensed cultivation places and dispensaries. The company is ready to tap into their investor funding of $3.75 million to reach the goal of managing more and more cannabis businesses.

 

Privateer Holdings

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal has joined the cannabis bandwagon by including their investment firm, the Founders Fund. The stake is for millions of dollars as only a small part of the fundraising round that raised a total of $75 million for Privateer Holdings.

This is by far the biggest investment for the cannabis industry and for Privateer Holdings as well. The funding is well-deserved based on the track record of the company. It is currently operating companies that are very much into cannabis such as:

• Leafly, a website that helps people in their search for marijuana dispensaries and shops all over the country
• Tilray, a medical marijuana cultivation facility in Canada
• Marley Natural, a recreational marijuana brand name inspired from legendary pot user and reggae singer, Bob Marley

 

MassRoots

MassRoots is a social networking app with a difference. The focus is on cannabis which has attracted more than 275,000 followers ever since it came out from a short exile from the Apple App Store. The app allows lovers of marijuana to share photos as a way of connecting socially. It has bumped up its funding to over $1.3 million when it was traded as a penny stock. Trading has increased their value to $25 million.

The trouble MassRoots had with Apple in the past is now history as soon as they initiated a geo-restricting function to the app. With the geo-restricting app in place, only users located in the 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana can use the app. The future seems bright for the company as it sees more capitalization rolling in through advertisements. The forecast is a monthly income of $1 million in two years time.

 

GW Pharmaceuticals

It’s been more than a decade since this British company began developing medicines using compounds from cannabis. Epidiolex, one of the drugs popularly used for treating severe epilepsy in young adults and children is now being tested by the company for its cannabidiol components.

The shares of the company have skyrocketed with the money-wise interest exhibited by investors. Investors have seen the positive trend of medical marijuana, making them eager to invest money as a means of expanding the research.

For now, the company’s market value has reached an unprecedented $2.2 billion.

 

Mindful

Operating dispensaries from the states of Illinois and Colorado is Mindful’s business ever since they received funding of $3.94 million. The company occupies a 43,000 square feet production facility where cannabis processing occurs from edibles to concentrates.

Filtered air surrounds the facility that rids the stink commonly associated with cannabis. Filtering the air was a lesson learned from a similar facility in California where it was forced to shut down due to complaints from nearby residents.

 

The Green Solution (TGS)

iAnthus Capital Holdings started the cannabis ball rolling for The Green Solution with funding amounting to $7.5 million. Already the company is operating a total number of 13 dispensaries with more to come in the near future. The goal of The Green Solution is to become known as “the McDonalds of Pot”.

 

In closing

The legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana has burgeoned into a billion-dollar business as well. Gone were the shady deals in back alleys. Now it’s spanking new facilities with state of the art equipment to cultivate and process the plant. Now it’s meetings in boardrooms where investors and management seriously talk about marijuana profits.

Has the world gone mad with marijuana? Maybe it has, but the recognition of the cannabis plant is long overdue. It’s time to give credit to the plant that seems to cure it all.