00:00Today on Forbes, the 2025 Cannabis 42.0 list.
00:07Every 420, the high holiday for marijuana lovers, is a reason to examine the state of the $32 billion cannabis industry.
00:15Pot may still be illegal at the federal level, but 39 states have some form of legal weed.
00:21Nebraska legalized medical marijuana on Election Day.
00:24And the majority of Americans currently support legalization, no matter their political leanings.
00:31This past week, Representative David Joyce, a pro-pot Republican from Ohio, reintroduced the States Act,
00:38which, if passed, would deschedule state-legal marijuana and create a federal framework for cannabis products.
00:45For now, legal cannabis companies struggle under federal prohibition, with punitive taxes and a lack of interstate commerce.
00:53Meanwhile, the federally legal hemp market, which sells THC-infused products online, in grocery stores and smoke shops around the country,
01:02and the illicit market have been undeterred by state legalization.
01:07And the hope that the Drug Enforcement Administration would reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug,
01:12it is currently in Schedule 1, the same category as heroin and LSD, has been dashed.
01:18Again.
01:19The DEA stalled the process late last year.
01:21That said, there are plenty of companies that have found a way to keep afloat in a punishing market.
01:28For the fourth annual Cannabis 42.0 list, Forbes is celebrating the entrepreneurs, innovators, and disruptors
01:35who are finding success in the state-regulated cannabis market.
01:39Over the last few months, Forbes interviewed dozens of investors, executives, analysts, and business owners,
01:45studied sales data and financial documents, and reviewed nearly 200 applicants to identify the 42 leaders and up-and-comers
01:53who were transforming cannabis from a criminal enterprise into a robust legal industry.
01:58Publicly traded companies were not considered in order to highlight smaller, entrepreneurial brands and people
02:05revolutionizing the industry from the ground up.
02:08If you're listening to or watching this before Monday, April 21st,
02:12you're invited to join us that day, Monday, at noon Eastern Time
02:15for a live, in-depth discussion with an audience Q&A on the future of the cannabis industry.
02:20To register, go to forbes.com slash sites slash members dash only dash events.
02:27Here are just a few of the pot pioneers on our list blazing a path forward in 2025.
02:33Jason Vedati started his career in real estate but always grew weed as a hobby.
02:39In 2015, he merged his first cannabis company with Arizona-based vertically integrated Harvest Health.
02:45In 2021, Harvest merged with Trulieve in a $2.1 billion all-stock deal,
02:52creating one of the biggest cannabis companies in the industry.
02:56Vedati's newest venture is Arizona-based Story Cannabis,
02:59which he has expanded to Maryland and Ohio with plans to launch across the country.
03:05Imelda Walla-Valkar and Tracy Anderson have grown their cannabis brand Pure Beauty
03:10from a garage into a business now licensed to expand into cultivation,
03:15manufacturing, and retail in New York.
03:18The California-based company is backed by musicians Nas and Timbaland.
03:23Pure Beauty produces flour, THC drinks,
03:26and a signature pack of 10 mini-joints called, quote,
03:29babies.
03:31At 27 years old, Prince Yusuf was convicted of conspiracy
03:35to distribute 100 kilos of marijuana, serving two years in prison.
03:39By 2015, Yusuf launched House of Dank, a cultivator and dispensary chain.
03:46The company opened its first store on Detroit's 8 Mile Road
03:49and today has 13 locations, generating an estimated $150 million in revenue.
03:57Christine Apple started making edibles in her home in Oregon.
04:01And in 2015, the former architect founded Groon.
04:05She started selling her sugar-coated gummies and candy-coated chocolates without raising capital.
04:11Since then, Groon has expanded to six states and Canada.
04:15The majority female-owned and operated company
04:17was the top-selling edibles brand in retail in Arizona, Missouri, New Jersey, and Oregon.
04:22For full coverage, and to see the whole list,
04:26check out Will Yakowitz and Simone Melvin's piece on Forbes.com.
04:32This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:35Thanks for tuning in.
04:36Thanks for listening.
04:50Thank you for listening.
Comments