Hello STEEMians! We are Ganjapreneur: a grassroots digital journal focused on legal marijuana

Ganjapreneur.com is an independent digital journal for entrepreneurs, investors, professionals, and curious observers of the legal cannabis industry, and we are very excited to join the world of Steemit! 

Photo by Rory Savatgy, onsite at Trail Blazin' Productions in Washington State

We just learned about Steemit recently, and as an independent publishing outlet we think that the Steemit model represents an excellent opportunity for creators to redefine how content is produced, consumed, and compensated.   

We have seen firsthand how badly the standard publishing model is broken. Traditional journalism outlets have been forced to sell their souls due to dwindling print subscriptions and ad sales, and the Internet has subsequently been flooded with paid content and propaganda. 

To avoid compromising our own ethics, we have monetized via direct ad partnerships with companies who we believe are setting a good example for the industry as a whole, as well as services tailored toward our audience of cannabis entrepreneurs, such as a business directory for "420-friendly" service providers, a cannabis job board, a market for domain name investors, and a cannabis event calendar. 

Eventually, a better model for publishing will emerge and become the new normal. Having only scratched the surface so far, we believe Steemit probably offers a glimpse of the future of publishing. We are encouraged by the value that the Steemit community places on both quality and integrity, and we are looking forward to participating in the growth of this exciting platform!

Photo by Rory Savatgy, onsite at Trail Blazin' Productions in Washington State

A bit of history

We launched in 2014 with three main goals: to educate the world about the benefits of cannabis legalization, to tell the stories of cannabis entrepreneurs in the newly-created legal markets in Washington and Colorado, and to keep cannabis entrepreneurs informed about the latest policy, regulations, and business developments affecting them. We built our presence from the ground up, recruiting new writers, photographers, and members of our core team along the way. Now we receive over 120,000 unique website visitors per month, we reach over 5 million people monthly on social media, and we host a weekly podcast that was featured in Newsweek magazine in 2016. 

Newsweek WEED Special Issue Cover 2016

What have we learned?

If you are entertaining the idea of launching a cannabis venture, let us be the first to tell you that the legal industry is infinitely complex, it is extremely high-risk as well as competitive, and it is not as lucrative as most would assume. Due to cannabis being classified as a Schedule I substance federally, production and retail businesses are not allowed to claim expenses on their federal tax returns, even if they are following state laws to the letter. 

Photo by Sarah Climaco, taken onsite at North Coast Growers in Washington State

Cannabis companies are routinely denied access to banking, forcing them to deal only in cash, which makes them a prime target for robbery & burglary. This usually incurs additional expenses for security, which, again, are non-deductible. Additionally, cannabis companies often have a hard time securing the real estate and essential business services they need to operate, as they are frequently declined service by mainstream companies once the nature of their business is revealed. 

Photo by Sarah Climaco, North Coast Growers Cannabis Product Labels

While most investors are still bullish on the legal industry as a whole under the Trump Administration (in spite of the hardline stance taken by Attorney General Jeff Sessions), actually turning a profit and growing a business in the legal market is no cakewalk, especially for the Mom & Pop medical providers and caretakers who were arguably the strongest force behind the push to legalize in the first place.

Jeff Sessions, enjoying a session.

What to expect from us

We will be posting regular updates on cannabis and hemp policy around the world. We'll also be publishing interviews with the cannabis pioneers who are paving the way for the future, videos from our trips to cannabis business locations and conferences, as well as data from legal markets. 

Photo by Sarah Climaco, taken during Kush Tourism Cannabis Tour

Much work remains to be done, but this is nonetheless an exciting time and we are grateful for the opportunity to bear witness to a global paradigm shift regarding natural medicine! Here are some recent milestones to consider, in case you missed them:

• Just last week, Poland's lower house voted 440-2 in favor of legalizing medicinal marijuana. 
• On June 20th, Mexico signed a nationwide MMJ bill into law. 
• France recently announced an end to prison sentences for cannabis consumers. 
• Canada's nationwide adult-use cannabis market will launch in 2018. 
• California, the sixth largest economy in the world, will also be launching an adult-use market in 2018. 

Over the next few years, it is certainly going to be exciting to watch the walls of prohibition crumble! Follow us and we will do our best to keep you informed each step of the way.