Arguably the most successful cannabis campaign slogan of all time is ‘regulate cannabis like alcohol.’ The slogan was first championed by activists in Colorado leading up to their state’s successful legalization vote on Election Day 2012. The slogan was later incorporated by activists throughout the United States.
To be clear, cannabis advocates were not shaming alcohol consumers via their slogan. Rather, the slogan was/is used to highlight that if people can be permitted to purchase and consume alcohol responsibly, the same should be true for cannabis given the science and statistics involved with both substances. Cannabis is demonstrably safer for humans compared to alcohol.
According to multiple recent surveys, many consumers are replacing alcohol consumption with cannabis consumption in places where cannabis is legal for purchase and use.
“Consumer surveys in Canada and the U.S. show that alcohol consumption is down in areas where adults have the option to consume legal cannabis, Bernstein analyst Nadine Sarwat said in a research note on Friday.” states MarketWatch in its original coverage.
“Thirty-six percent of cannabis users said they’ve cut down on their alcohol consumption, while a separate study found that 47% said they have reduced their drinking.” MarketWatch also reported. The trend is also reflected in beer sales statistics.
“We estimate that legal cannabis could be negatively impacting beer volume [compound annual growth rate] by up to 230 bps in Canada and 75 bps in the U.S. where legal,” said Nadine Sarwat. Below is a video of Sarwat breaking down the trend:
A separate analysis from earlier this year by Carnegie Mellon University analyzed 40 years of reported alcohol and cannabis use data in the United States. Starting this year, for the first time daily cannabis use in the U.S. surpassed daily alcohol use.
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.