Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2014; the legal cannabis market size and forecast, the number of states allowing medical marijuana and the pending congressional amendment reflect that time. US cannabis law has changed a great deal since then.
1. The cannabis business
The cannabis industry is maturing by leaps and bounds. Investors, entrepreneurs and retailers are betting heavily on a market that is gradually ceasing to be illegal. Cannabis has now become a $1.4 billion industry in legal revenue, and it is expected to grow to more than $10 billion by 2018.
Everyone is watching the United States. Although the federal government still lists marijuana as an illegal substance, it has become a legitimate product in practice: 23 states have legalised it for medical use.
In the states where medical marijuana is legal, doctors prescribe it for illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma, Crohn’s disease and chronic pain, among others.
Things have moved so far that the US House of Representatives passed an amendment that bars the Department of Justice from prosecuting or interfering with laws that allow medical marijuana, and the Senate is about to approve it.
(Read: Selling cannabis seeds, a profitable and legal business)
Cannabis is no longer just for rebels and long-haired types. Now businesspeople in ties and expensive suits are moving into this booming business, because they believe the market is going to be very profitable and there is a lot of money to be made in it.
For anyone who wants to profit from this new industry that is about to take off, some research firms are now recommending investing in companies that deal in medical marijuana and its derivatives, such as Cannabis Science (OTC: CBIS) and Medical Marijuana Inc. (OTC: MJNA). Both companies carry risk, though, especially Cannabis Science, a company that has no product on the market yet, although it is working on one.
(Read: The first electronic joint)
2. Tattoo removal
The tattoo-removal industry has soared by more than 400% over the last decade, because many people get tattoos and then regret them.
Over the next four years, this business is expected to grow to $83 million. Bearing in mind that the tattoo industry as a whole is estimated at $3.4 billion, according to the research firm IBISWorld, that would correspond to an annualised growth rate of 2.9% across more than 8,000 businesses in the tattoo sector in the United States alone. So the more tattoos grow, the bigger the tattoo-removal business will be in the future.
They’re not two very common sectors, but they’re worth keeping in mind, just in case… who knows?
Further reading
- 9 profitable businesses we’ll probably see in the near future
- 8 small business ideas that started in London
- 10 business ideas related to children
- 10 jobs and businesses that will boom by 2020
Featured image: Beeblebrox, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
