It’s a lot easier for the cannabis industry to look back on 2023 than it had been the past few years prior.

It almost seemed like after that week in March 2020 when the industry sold the most pot ever, we entered a bit of a rut. The license struggles of various hitters and the price crash leading to a lot of small farms going under were two major parts of that sad reality.

But for those who made it to 2023, there was more hope and positives to take away from the year. That being said, it wasn’t perfect. I’m not convinced you all have live soil all of a sudden. But here are a few takeaways we did enjoy.  We’re hoping more of these stories pop up next year. 

The Survivors Kept Surviving 

At certain points during 2021 and 2022, it felt like I heard a story about another company going under almost every week. After that great culling, on both sides of the market seemingly, legal and not, most of the ones left standing are monsters of the game or at least still have a few good hooks. Regardless, we’re thankful they exist and believe they’ve made it through most of the worst the industry had to offer. 

Prices Bounced

One of the things helping those survivors was the price bounce we saw in 2023. The year prior saw some garbage numbers. Sure the mountain top hype could always convince a rapper or eleven to pay $4,000 a pound, but for most, it got depressing for a bit there. I talked to one world champ that was getting $700 for his deps a couple of years back and all I could think was, if he was getting that price, what the hell was everyone else supposed to do? While the numbers aren’t back to the Golden Age of Prop 215, they are a lot more functional. 

Solid Weather

California saw over 4 million acres burn in 2020; 2.5 million more would burn a year later. That would cap the end of a vicious run of fire seasons faced by the cannabis industry since the Mendocino Complex fire devastated it in 2018. Thanks to a wet winter, only 300,000 acres burned in California this year and its impact on the industry was a lot more compartmentalized than when the sky turned orange for a week. That weed sucked. But this year did not. You can now smoke the results of the great weather NorCal received this year with the harvest starting to hit that sweet spot in the cure. 

More Markets Coming Online 

More markets coming online is great for California. Farmers took a real hit from places like Oklahoma and Maine coming online and eating up the East Coast trap scene. But the world wants California weed thankfully, and eventually, it will have legal access to the real deal. But the big dogs can only scale up so far and maintain the quality of their product. The supply and demand will drive prices higher. Demand abroad will force customers to pay a premium to smoke it at home. This all isn’t a fantasy anymore, it’s a countdown. 

Federal Progress

But the countdown clock has not been set. It’s just red and blinking flashing lights, but we’re definitely on the cusp of something here. Legislation takes a long time to move through Congress, just convincing Congress to not let the DEA spend money raiding sick people took years. But we saw progress this year — who could have imagined the Senate Majority leader would take the legalization cause under his wing? But that’s the time we’re living in: 2024 will be another massive year for cannabis on the hill.