Marijuana Industry

Illinois Is Blazing the Trail for Cannabis Profits from “Prohibition Territory”

It's been just over a month since Illinois has been legally selling recreational marijuana, and the response has been incredible.

There were reports of five-hour waits across dispensaries in Illinois, with lines stretching around the block.

A good chunk of the cannabis enthusiasts willing to brave the elements were not even from the Prairie State. Out-of-state visitors spent $8.6 million in Illinois in January.

In just the first month, Illinois hauled in a total $39.2 million. That puts the state on pace for $470 million in total sales for 2020.

That number is only going up – way up. It all has to do with Illinois' neighbors…

"Illinois has a really strong advantage, being in the middle of prohibition territory," Bethany Gomez, Managing Director of Cannabis Research at Brightfield Group said in a statement.

She's right. Bordering Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky, Illinois is in the perfect spot to capture the money people want to spend on legal, tested, and safe products.

It's become an "oasis" in prohibition land.

And it's proof of the profitability of a safe, regulated market. After the first year of legal recreational sales, it's going to be a wakeup call for the states dragging their feet, which is a huge catalyst for change – and profits…

Don Yocham About the Author Don Yocham is Executive Director for the National Institute of Cannabis Investors (The Institute) and Director of Cannabis Investing Research for Money Map Press. Before starting his role with the Institute, he was the Head of Private Deals for the publication Cannabis Venture Syndicate. From his first foray into the trading pits of Chicago to introducing institutional investors to entirely new markets in the early 2000s, Don has pretty much covered the entire field of investing in his 25-year career. In the depths of the financial crisis, when the typical investor had lost more than half of their money, his portfolios were up. … Read full bio