that were once considered the “Apple” or “Amazon” of cannabis
The Rise and Fall of the Cannabis Industry: A Cautionary Tale
It was never going to be all sunshine and legal gummies. But few imagined it would unravel this fast. Just five years ago, cannabis legalization seemed like the fastest-growing industry in North America. Between 2018 and 2021, investors poured billions into grow ops, dispensary chains, and weed-tech startups. Everyone from venture capitalists to celebrities wanted a piece of the green rush. Politicians competed to out-progressive each other on cannabis reform. Analysts called it “the next tech boom.” Companies were labeled “the Apple” or “the Amazon” of cannabis. And for a moment, it felt like they were.
The Hype and the Hangover
Fast forward to 2025: the landscape has shifted as the hype wore off. What comes next is something stranger, a kind of capitalist hangover. The dawn of a post-rush cannabis economy feels more like a cautionary tale.
Cracks in the Empire
Joseph Schumpeter, part of that legendary group of early 20th-century economists, dedicated his work to unraveling the dynamics of business cycles. He saw these cycles as a process of emergence, consolidation, and eventual decline. New technologies allowed businesses to emerge and trigger chains of innovation. Schumpeter recognized that promising new products and nascent economies often carried the seeds of their own impermanence, destined to evolve or fade as markets shifted. In cannabis, though, consolidation and decay came surprisingly fast.
The Rise and Fall of Tilray
Take Tilray, once the darling of Canada’s legalization story. The company’s 2018 IPO was historic: the first cannabis stock to trade on NASDAQ. Its valuation ballooned to over eleven figures at its peak. Today, it is worth a fraction of that, below the $1 billion mark. Imagine the losses. CEOs tend to act as though they do not care, as if the physical business were detached from the speculative financial sphere. But those depreciations have real consequences. Then they make deep cuts to operations to satisfy the board of directors, just like Canopy Growth did, shedding hundreds of employees and shuttering facilities in 2023 and 2024. Layoffs and cuts tend to please investors.
The Domino Effect
In the U.S., the dramatic fall of MedMen got a lot of attention. Less was written about StateHouse Holdings, Slang Worldwide, Schwazze, and other companies that either collapsed or fell under heavy financial pressure. There is a trick to it in cannabis. Because the industry is still federally illegal, cannabis companies cannot file for bankruptcy protection, meaning they cannot legally go bankrupt. As with those mentioned, many others have spiraled into debt or restructured under creditor pressure.
Lessons Learned
And of course, something similar happened to the legendary magazine I currently have the pleasure of writing for, when under previous leadership, it failed in its attempt to rebrand itself into something like a dispensary chain. This period saw numerous companies reduce operations, file for creditor protection, declare insolvency, or collapse entirely. Even firms that were once considered the “Apple” or “Amazon” of cannabis have not been immune to the industry’s volatile nature. The rise and fall of the cannabis industry serves as a cautionary tale for investors and businesses alike.
