A Tipping Point for Cannabis?
America has had its sights set on the presidential election for the last few months and almost every other social issue has been ignored due to the prominence and extreme tension of this election. One of the main issues in contention, which was partially overshadowed, made its way onto the ballot in some states: marijuana legalization. Over the last few years, recreational marijuana use has been legalized in 8 states and the District of Columbia. So how did a Schedule 2 drug gain recreational legalization in a handful of states? Well, like many other famous items in US culture, it experienced a tipping point.
In class, we learned that network effects can lead to a tipping point, which is a critical point in an item’s percentage of users which, if surpassed, can cause the item to succeed. Though it is unclear exactly what point this is for Marijuana approval, many people believe that this election represented the “tip” over the critical point with the addition of Maine, Nevada, Massachusetts, and the US’s most populous state, California. At the turn of the 21st Century, about 31% of Americans supported the legalization of cannabis and now, after the vote, that number is 61%. If in fact, Marijuana legalization has experienced its tipping point, it will only continue to expand in an exponential fashion. $7 billion was gained from the cannabis market this year and in 2020, that number is projected to at least triple and, due to the nature of tipping points, that isn’t an unreasonable estimate at all.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/8/13520486/marijuana-legalization-california-election-2016