Edible Weed May Be Half of the $5.4 Billion Pot Business

Peggy Noonan knows a thing or two about marijuana. She was a drug runner between Mexico and the U.S., before earning her living as a dealer in Arizona. Both stints ended badly, with Noonan serving time in a Mexican jail and slapped with federal probation in Arizona. All that feels like ancient history, says Noonan, who’s among the thousands of “ganjapreneurs” in the burgeoning market for edible marijuana products. “It was pretty wild, life coming full circle,” she says.

Noonan’s Cornucopia Health and Wellness in Tucson sells 40 products including Weedish Fish gummies, extra-large German chocolate brownies, and Serenity Tincture—all infused with varying degrees of pot—to about 60 so-called dispensaries in Arizona for medicinal use. The company, which opened for business in April 2014, employs eight people and has seen sales double over the past three months, says Noonan, who’s not to be confused with the columnist and Ronald Reagan speechwriter of the same name.