Missouri is currently home to one of the largest and fastest-growing legal cannabis markets in the United States. According to cannabis data company Headset, “Missouri’s cannabis market has shown a steady growth trajectory over the past two years, with total sales reaching approximately $123.3 million in July 2024.”
“The industry also added roughly 4,000 jobs in the last year with more than 19,500 people currently working in the field.” stated Fox59 in recent local coverage. Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Missouri is offering various cannabis courses to help current and aspiring industry members stand out in what is becoming a crowded and competitive legal cannabis job market. Courses include:
- Cannabis Cultivation Specialist Certificate
- Cannabis Retail Specialist Certificate
- Cannabis Extraction & Product Development Specialist Certificate
“In the year since the courses started being offered, roughly 100 students have successfully obtained a certificate, which is made possible through MCC’s Workforce and Economic Development Division and Green Flower, a marijuana education provider.” reported Fox59.
“The cannabis industry is very competitive. It’s not a requirement to have this, but all of our students find it helps differentiate them,” said Green Flower founder and CEO, Max Simon according to the local media outlet.
The Missouri Cannabis Trade Association is projecting that combined state and local tax revenue generated from legal cannabis sales in the State of Missouri will reach an estimated $238 million in 2024.
“The association reported total sales of $2.5 billion since the products were first legalized in 2020, resulting in $370 million in state and local revenue. $984.6 million of that total came from medical marijuana sales.” stated WGEM in its original coverage.
The United States adult-use cannabis industry has generated over $20 billion in total tax revenue since the first legal recreational cannabis purchase was made in Colorado on January 1st, 2014 according to a report by the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Through the first quarter of 2024, states have reported a combined total of more than $20 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales. In 2023 alone, legalization states generated more than $4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year.” the Marijuana Policy Project stated in a press release.
79% of people living in the United States lived in a county with at least one regulated cannabis dispensary according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center also found the following:
- 74% of people in the U.S. live in a state where recreational or medical cannabis is legal
- There are nearly 15,000 cannabis dispensaries in the U.S.
- California has the most overall dispensaries (3,659)
- Oklahoma has the most dispensaries per capita (36 dispensaries for every 100,000 residents)
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 an 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.