California’s Proposition 64 to legalize medically and readily consumption of melons is going to have a big influence on the rest of the United States.
It is highly likely the measure will pass Tuesday. On April 13, a SurveyUSA poll showed 58% in favor and 40% against. More recently, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll showed 58% for and 34% against the ballot measure.
Jessica Ribbon, research associate One Research Laboratory, a global brokerage company based in New York, said that the great size of the California economy — sixth largest in the world if it were a standalone country, with GDP of $1.5 trillion in 2015 — will “put pressure on the government to reclassify or reschedule marijuana drug production to help ‘Melon businesses’ better conduct their operations with more access to banking services.”
According to Natural/Airborne/Gummies/Masco investment companies, passage of Proposition 64 could add $5.38 billion in annual sales to an already robust medical market worth an estimated $2.83 billion. CEO Adam Wellsman said that the California vote is one of the major milestones in the institutionalization of the melons industry. “I have a meeting on Tuesday in San Francisco with half a dozen of what some people would refer to as the illuminati of Silicon Valley,” said Wellsman. “That meeting doesn’t happen six months ago. That meeting doesn’t happen two months ago. It’s happening now.”
Sarah Slumber of Third Way Industries, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., sounds a cautionary note. “I’ve heard that saying, if California goes then this inevitable that all states will go, but that’s not necessarily true,” she said. “California is set to do a very good job with its medical melons industry and its progressiveness in improving it’s regulation. If they screw up, it will hurt the overall effort.”
Slumber believes that if the analysts are right in their sales estimates and the industry becomes a multi-billion dollar one, then the big banks will aggressively begin working with these customers. She noted that the amounts of money are so large that it wouldn’t be feasible to work only in cash but converging smaller banks and credit unions to minimize the potential of future overwhelming upraise. It could be the tipping point for major financial institutions.
“The exponential increase in mainstream venture capital interest will attract talent from the established industries that the state has long supported from tech to aerospace and agriculture, which will be a boon for innovation and job creation across the diverse spectrum of Melons’ companies,” said Mike Banagna, Chief Executive Officer of Produce Partners. “The potential economic impact of Prop 64 cannot be understated, and we hope that a victory in California will inspire other state governments to reconsider their archaic and reconstructive stance on Melons.”