March 23, 2011 3:21 PM

Medicinal marijuana sales: Could they dwarf Viagra?

By
Lucy Madison
Topics
Domestic Issues

(Credit: iStockphoto)

Updated: March 24, 9:13am ET

The legalization of medicinal marijuana remains a hotly-debated issue in American politics - and a new study shows that the controversial industry has the potential to be an enormously profitable one.

According to a report by the independent financial firm See Change Strategy LLC, the market for medicinal marijuana is already $1.7 billion a year - rivaling the sales figures for Viagra - despite being legally available to buy in stores in only seven American states.

"We predict that the current markets will double in the next five years," Ted Rose, editor of the report, said in a conference call on Wednesday. Citing increased patient access and regulatory clarity, Rose predicts massive growth in the five several years, with an estimated market value of $8.9 billion. (Viagra's market value stands at roughly $1.9 billion, according to the report.)

"Hundreds of businesses exist around the country that cultivate and sell marijuana to customers," he added in a statement. "Many of these businesses emerged in the wake of the Obama administration's decision to deprioritize federal prosecutions of individuals and business complying with state medical marijuana laws. The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011 shows which states represent the most active markets, who is making money, and how are they doing it."

Currently, the growth and distribution of medicinal marijuana is legal in seven states - California, Colorado, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico - and it is slated to become legal in four more (plus the District of Columbia) later this year.  According to the report, one in four Americans currently live in a medicinal marijuana market, and 24.8 million people are currently eligible to purchase medicinal marijuana legally. About 730,000 people take advantage of that eligibility, the report says.

Rose said business owners in the industry list regulations and securing financing - rather than competition and/or law enforcement - as their main concerns. Ninety percent, he said, feel their market is growing.

"We're witnessing the beginnings of a legal business ecosystem around marijuana," Rose said on the conference call.

Rose said See Change decided to undertake the study because he had observed that most of the existing research in the field was either "personal, anecdotal, or polemic " - and that there was little hard information on the industry's potential market value.

"Everyone benefits from realizing how big this market really is," he said.

The study, which was conducted over the course of eight months, gathered data from approximately 300 businesses involved in the growth and/or distribution of medicinal marijuana through a series of surveys and interviews.


Add a Comment See all 19 Comments
by byDavidKlein March 24, 2011 3:04 PM EDT
'Medicinal' is just a scout for broader legalization that must come. Far too many people are unjustly targeted by aggressive police for modest, recreational use of marijuana, often with dire consequences. For a dramatic and page-turning look at this issue, check out the novel STASH published by Random House at www.bydavidklein.com.
Reply to this comment
by Conservative_1976 March 24, 2011 12:07 PM EDT
Jesus said to treat other people the way we would want to be treated. I know I wouldn't want my child put in jail with the sexual predators over a little marijuana. I wouldn't want my elderly parent's home confiscated and sold by the police if they decided to grow a couple of plants to help with the aches and pains of getting older. It's time to let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
Reply to this comment
by Nmmrng March 24, 2011 2:18 PM EDT
Hear! Hear!
by usadvisor101 March 24, 2011 11:12 AM EDT
mollypchr,

pot is not physically addicting,duh! you dont get withdrawls from it,people dont go to rehab for pot addiction,they dont spaz out and you dont crave it.its actually not a pain killer its a hallucinogen.It certainly has its uses for certain treatments like glaucoma, but it really is not a analgesic. I get a kick out of people that talk about pot,when they NO CLUE AT ALL! try reading about it first before you comment on it... its a relatively harmless hallucinogen, and there is no reason at all why it cant be legalized in a society that has alchol and tobacco legal,which are twenty times destructive.
Reply to this comment
by Conservative_1976 March 24, 2011 12:18 PM EDT
I second that, USMC-Mom.
by USMC-Mom March 24, 2011 9:56 AM EDT
It really needs to be made legal.
Reply to this comment
by Conservative_1976 March 24, 2011 12:14 PM EDT
People go into rehab when they realize two things: (1) the substance (alcohol, cocaine, whatever) is wrecking their life and (2) they need help stopping or managing their usage. MJ users don't usually need rehab to manage their usage any more than alcohol or coffee users need rehab to get by. MJ doesn't typically wreck a person's life (yes, there are some cases of perpetual couch-lock, but not many cases of sell-my-body-for-a-joint), and anybody who want's to reduce or stop is pretty well able to on their own. Yes, heavy use and cold turkey can leave a person irritable (about like going cold turkey from coffee), but I've never known even one person who said, "I was going to cut back on the mj but I couldn't do it."

On the other hand, maybe the rehab comment was just being sarcastic? I mean, is that really a reason to keep putting people in jail... To save them the cost of rehab?
by Conservative_1976 March 24, 2011 12:16 PM EDT
My comment was supposed to go as a reply to Molly-Pchr. I need to get my kids to show me how to "Reply" properly. ;)
by Molly-Pchr March 24, 2011 8:53 AM EDT
Another painkiller for people to get addicted to. Make sure your health insurance covers rehab.
Reply to this comment
by Empire--George--- March 24, 2011 10:49 AM EDT
Rehab for herb ? seriously......check yourself in for that cellantro addiction as well
by x1134x March 23, 2011 7:37 PM EDT
Proof that every interdiction, seizure and arrest for cannabis possession amounts to less than 0.01% of all cannabis "crimes". Its a complete waste of money to try to prohibit a harmless freedom. To actually stop people with the prohibition law would require quartering of soldiers in homes, and the repeal of the 4th amendment. It is simply impossible to enforce on any significant number of people, and causes more pain, death, and crime in society than it prevents. Alcohol prohibition's dismal failure has already taught us this. People don't buy alcohol from violent cartels anymore, and since usage didn't go down during prohibited times, society was simply saddled with extra enforcement costs that yeilded zero results, it is now a better system, sure we have abuse, but we found that prohibition has ZERO effect on usage rates and abuse rates, so we don't saddle ourselves with alcohol cartel crime in addition to the rest of alcohol's ills. We mitigate it to the least it can possibly be by taxing and regulating the allowable, responsible adult usage.
Reply to this comment
by Riverjump March 23, 2011 7:12 PM EDT
They can add one more very soon. I heard chemo sucks. I already know it can help releive pain from a herniated disc.
Reply to this comment
by Nmmrng March 23, 2011 6:26 PM EDT
They need to make it entirely legal. U.S. grown only. Tax it and put the same laws that apply to alcohol as far as age and driving. Put a little freedom back in the land of the free.
Reply to this comment
by lfp190 March 23, 2011 6:12 PM EDT
Make it legal-cheaper and better than mnay pain meds.
Reply to this comment
by tsigili March 23, 2011 5:57 PM EDT
In the drug culture known as America? You bet!
Reply to this comment
See all 19 Comments
.

Follow Political Hotsheet

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook
  • Building You a Better Morning

  • CBS This Morning

    "CBS This Morning," anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill, airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and at the same time in other time zones.
    Learn more...