Colorado, along with Washington State, passed an adult-use legalization measure in 2012 on Election Day. The two states were the first to ever pass statewide recreational cannabis legalization measures, and due to Colorado being in a different time zone, it was technically the very first state to legalize.
The first legal recreational cannabis purchase in United States history occurred in Denver, Colorado on January 1st, 2014, with Washington’s first sale not occurring until July 2014. Since 2014, regulated Colorado retail cannabis outlets have sold a considerable amount of cannabis products.
Below is a snapshot of sales totals via the Colorado Department of Revenue (through February 2024):
According to a statewide poll that was recently conducted by the Colorado Polling Institute, 67 percent of Colorado voters report that “allowing the regulation of marijuana” is a “good thing.”
The results of the Colorado Polling Institute survey are inline with separate survey data released by Public Policy Polling which found that most Colorado voters believe, “Colorado’s regulated marijuana industry has had a positive impact on the state economy.”
Total legal cannabis sales in the United States are expected to reach $31.4 billion in 2024 according to a recent analysis by Whitney Economics. Additionally, leading cannabis jobs platform Vangst, in conjunction with Whitney Economics, estimates that the legal cannabis industry now supports 440,445 full time-equivalent cannabis jobs in the United States.
Whitney Economics also projects the following legal cannabis sales figures in the United States for the coming years:
- 2024: $31.4 billion (9.1% growth from 2023)
- 2025: $35.2 billion (12.1% growth from 2024)
- 2030: $67.2 billion
- 2035: $87.0 billion
The emerging legal cannabis industry in the United States is projected to add roughly $112 billion to the nation’s economy in 2024 according to a newly released analysis by MJBiz Daily. The projection is part of the company’s 2024 MJBiz Factbook.
“The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year,” MJBiz stated in its initial reporting.