With the legal marijuana market on track to more than double by 2019, growing from an estimated $3.5 billion this year (ArcView), to more than $10.8 billion, the marijuana industry is easily one of the fastest-growing sectors in the U.S. today. However, in an industry where cash is king and many financial service sector operators are leery of jumping in with both feet, given that the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and PCP, there is a decided need for a major transition away from cash when it comes to transacting business. Not just because financial services companies are reluctant to help process monies either, but because of the inherent security risks associated with keeping large sums of cash on hand for entities like dispensaries and couriers, which typically cannot financially withstand the bottom line impact of a sufficient security budget.
To illustrate this problem one need look no further than the state of Illinois, where the state treasurer’s office was recently left hanging when, after an official solicitation to find a bank or financial services company willing to process the large amounts of tax and fee derived cash that are anticipated, no one responded. Illinois has moved quickly on the marijuana issue and, eyeing the $70 million in tax revenues collected in Washington, as well as $40 million collected in Colorado, has ramped up legislative reform, with a decriminalization bill (HB 218) currently in General Assembly for final approval. A 27,000 square foot grow op near Anna is already under construction and could be done by the end of September, with the owner indicating a workforce of up to 30 employees and initial harvesting by as early as January. Mind you, this is just one week after the State Department of Financial and Professional Regulation approved the first medical marijuana registered dispensary down in Marion. Illinois could easily go from medical marijuana to blanket decriminalization in a heartbeat, and with similar metrics in the offing elsewhere nationwide, there is precious little time to get out ahead of the pack with ancillary services designed to support and foster the space.
Needless to say, the demand from end users, as well as sector operators like dispensaries, has cumulatively created an enormous groundswell of support for alternative transaction options that can directly address the problems associated with cash. This is why FastFunds Financial Corp. (OTC: FFFC) has gone to great lengths to select a creative agency, Casa Giallo, to help take the company’s pre-paid loyalty debit card with turnkey customer rewards technology, the branded Tommy Chong Green Card (TCGC), to the next level. With revisions and updates to the tommychonggreencard.com set to go live in a handful of days, Casa Giallo has put together a blockbuster social media integration program in order to make the official launch a big success. Tommy Chong is idolized by millions of people in the marijuana sector for his legendary comedy and increasingly vast business footprint in this thriving industry. His identity being associated with the company’s loyalty rewards debit card is a key asset which gives the TCGC an exceptionally strong brand footing and market presence on name recognition alone.
The company has already been sowing the seeds for the website debut as well, with Soren Holdings and Marketing, the TCGC brand manager and marketing specialist, helping to promote the card at the largest hempfest on earth recently, at the Seattle Washington Hempfest on August 14 through 16, where attendees also had the opportunity to look at FFFC subsidiary Pure Grow Systems’ highly efficient antimicrobial sanitation products and systems, using 100 percent biodegradable active ingredients. Having recently received general label registration approval in Washington and Wisconsin for its innovative GroClean product, designed to be the ultimate one-stop-shop solution to rapidly cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting growing and processing environments, Pure Grow Systems is fast becoming the other major reason for investors to keep a close eye on FFFC.
With several recent surveys indicating that a majority of Americans are now in favor of legalizing marijuana, including the 52 percent approval shown by the General Social Survey poll, and 51 percent approval shown in last year’s Gallup poll, the sizeable tax revenues that state legislatures can get their hands on have been sufficient impetus to cause more and more states to rapidly pass legislative reforms. If this seemingly unstoppable trend continues, marijuana could become an extremely important industry for the U.S. economy, on par with the roughly $108 billion (2014) plus alcoholic beverage retail sector, which also generates around 1.77 million jobs.
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