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High taxes, slow-moving permit process and local government resistance has stifled state’s legalization effort

California’s legal marijuana industry has been a bust, falling far short of the sales projected when voters legalized it in 2016.

With the approval of Proposition 64, Californians made clear that they wanted to end the farce of criminalizing marijuana-related offenses, and they wanted to allow a legal market for recreational marijuana to operate.

To say that last year was a challenging one for cannabis stocks is an understatement. The cannabis industry had a tough time in 2019, with many companies trying to survive by relying on mergers and acquisitions.

What Happened With Tilray

A well-known name in the industry, Tilray Inc TLRY, has seen its shares fall 86.87% since September of 2018.

Brand new parks. Healthier, smarter kids. Forests cleaned up. Drugged drivers off the road. Criminal records cleared.

Those are just a few of cannabis legalization Proposition 64’s impacts after two years of commercial sales.

Passed in 2016, Prop 64 earmarks all cannabis tax revenue—less regulatory costs—for public health, the environment, and public safety. On Jan. 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced cannabis tax revenue social allocations totaling $332.8 million for the coming fiscal year 2020-2021.

To say that 2019 was not a banner year for the cannabis industry and marijuana stocks may be understating just how poor things actually went. Despite Canada becoming the first industrialized country to legalize and commence the sale of recreational pot, and momentum for legalization remaining strong in the U.S., the black market has been virtually unstoppable throughout much of North America.

I’ve been a chemistry professor for 15 years and a chemist for longer than that. Through most of that time, I paid little heed to cannabis, thinking that this plant held one main chemical of interest: tetrahydrocannabinol, its psychoactive ingredient.

I now know that cannabis contains a galaxy of unexplored compounds — cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, polyphenols, and more — that may well transform our understanding of plant medicine and human biology. I find this new territory inspiring.

At least 18 states stand to loosen their marijuana laws this year.

It looks like 2020 could be a very big year for marijuana legalization.

The year began with a bang when Illinois started recreational marijuana sales, after the state became the 10th in the country and the second in the Midwest to legalize marijuana.

This past quarter was brutal for the cannabis industry. What was once a cash reservoir for investors has become an oversaturated desert, with companies ruthlessly battling against one another in a survival of the fittest contest.

Missouri officials on Thursday began notifying hundreds of business hopefuls whether they would receive a license to sell medical marijuana.

The Department of Health and Senior Services plans to license 192 dispensaries statewide — 24 in each of the state’s congressional districts — to sell marijuana legally to Missourians with a valid medical marijuana patient card.

Since recreational weed went on sale in Illinois three weeks ago, long lines have formed outside dispensaries, stores have established buying limits, and some have run out of product.

All that was expected, based on what’s happened as other states legalized cannabis. But there’s also been a less-anticipated result: More people want medical marijuana cards.

It’s been over 15 months since Canada legalized cannabis for recreational use, and while we still may be waiting on the rollout of the cannabis 2.0 market to get a full picture of where the market may go from here, it’s fair to say that the first 15 months have been more than disappointing. This time last year, pot stocks were riding high on the crest of the “green rush,” before it all went downhill before we could even blink.