Industry Spotlight: Legalization and PR Opportunities Grow in CBD and Cannabis

[Editor's Note: As part of our new Industry Spotlight series, PRNEWS talked to Agency A-List Top 100 honorees in the CBD and cannabis sector about working in this emerging space.]

With 68 percent of Americans supporting legalization of marijuana, and more states making it legal (New Jersey is the latest), many wonder how the Biden-Harris administration could further advance the industry.

As of the end of 2020, cannabis was legal for adults in 15 states and Washington, D.C., with four more voting for legalization. One of the first states to legalize marijuana, Colorado reported $1 billion in state revenue, after just three and a half years.

The business opportunity for cannabis (as well as CBD and hemp), then, appears significant, with many opportunities in the PR space–as long as communicators do the legwork and learn the sector's intricacies. In that respect, it's similar to crafting PR strategies for any sector.
Getting Started
Spool Marketing and Communications had its foot in cannabis from the start.

“I wanted to delve into emerging spaces,” says its CEO Catherine Merritt. She adds, laughing, “I’m probably the only Grateful Dead fan who doesn’t like to smoke pot.”

Spool's first client was dosist, whose then marketing chief was a college friend of Merritt's.