Marijuana Industry Numbers

We often talk about how much potential there is in the marijuana industry, but, how much of that is blowing smoke, and how much is tangible bud? There are a lot of unknowns in this growing industry, but we will do our best to pull out some of the most reliable numbers available.

State of the Union

Where does the marijuana industry stand today? Currently, there are 19 states—and the District of Columbia–where medical marijuana is legal, and four states where recreational marijuana is legal.

States where recreational marijuana is legal are: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, though the latter two haven’t rolled out their programs yet. States where medical marijuana is legal are: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Over 148 million Americans live in states where marijuana is (or is becoming) legal to some degree. That’s nearly half the nation.

Colorado Industry Numbers

Colorado is in many ways the state to watch when it comes to the marijuana industry because they are pioneering many aspects of the recreational drug market. Here are some examples of the kind of growth we’ve seen in Colorado:

  • Job growth: 14.2% in the first quarter of 2014
  • Total marijuana jobs: 10,000 (May 2014)
  • Monthly sales (recreational and medical): $67.5 million in August 2014
  • Sales tax revenue: $3.2 million in October 2014

It’s worth noting that these revenues have all come without any of the dire predictions that were made about legalization before it happened, according to research by the Cato Institute.

Projecting the Future

There are a lot of uncertainties about the future when it comes to the legal marijuana market. Most of this uncertainty comes from how the federal government will respond to the increased growth of the legal marijuana market. However, a recent report attempted to project the growth of the industry by 2020, whether the federal government legalizes marijuana or not. If the government doesn’t legalize marijuana, the report from GreenWave Advisors notes that the industry will continue to grow in the coming years, from a current market value of about $3 billion to a total of $21 billion. That’s a 7-fold growth even without federal legalization. And with federal legalization, the value could be much, much higher: about $35 billion, about 11-fold growth in just six or seven years.

That’d be real growth. Of course, we don’t know what the future really holds, but it sure looks like all the lights are green for this ride.

If you are interested in getting in on the ground floor of the marijuana industry, we can help. Please contact Ms. Mary Staffing today to learn about the best marijuana jobs available today and in the near future.

 

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