Cannabis opponents have claimed that the opening of legal cannabis dispensaries in a given area will harm the area’s viability. However, a recent study involving data from Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Michigan, and Illinois have found that legal cannabis dispensaries are associated with home values increasing faster in neighborhoods where dispensaries are located in.
Will Begeny, an analyst with Tomo, examined home prices in legal jurisdictions before and after legal cannabis dispensaries were permitted to operate. Tomo ‘compiles real estate data to help provide home buyers with relevant information to make more informed purchases.’
“Begeny examined city home sales data from states in different regions across the country, including Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Michigan and Illinois, to get a sense of how home values change, or don’t, when dispensary businesses open their doors.” the Cannabis Business Times stated in its initial coverage of the study.
“Controlling for everything else in the area, home prices in a ZIP code with a dispensary is going to grow at two percentage points higher than an area that is comparable and does not have a dispensary,” Begeny said according to the Cannabis Business Times.
Legalization’s benefits extend beyond real estate prices. A researcher associated with the Department of Economics at the University of Oklahoma recently examined college enrollment rates and state-level recreational cannabis laws. The results of the study were published in Economic Inquiry.
“This paper examines how recreational marijuana legalization (RML) affects first-time college enrollment in the US using a unique college-level dataset and various estimation methods such as difference-in-differences and event study.” the study’s author stated.
“I find that RML increases enrollments by approximately up to 9%, without compromising degree completion or graduation rate, and it boosts college competitiveness by offering a positive amenity, as evidenced by the rise in out-of-state enrollments relative to neighboring states.” the author stated about the study’s findings.
“In addition, I find no evidence that RML affects college prices, quality, or in-state enrollment. This effect is stronger for non-selective public colleges in early-adopting RML states.” the researcher concluded.
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 new 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.
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.