Every state in the U.S. that has legalized cannabis for adult-use first legalized cannabis for medical use, with many of them first permitting medical cannabis sales followed by allowing recreational cannabis sales.
Many medical cannabis patients prefer forgoing enrollment in state medical cannabis programs and instead opting to make their purchases from recreational cannabis outlets. Presumably, some patients do not want to pay extra money and jump through hoops when they can just make cannabis purchases under adult-use laws.
With that in mind, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see that patient enrollment numbers decline in states where recreational sales launch, such as in New Mexico where the registered patient base continues to decline.
“Data from the New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) shows that the number of actively enrolled patients decreased by about 20,000 people over the last year. In April of 2023, there were over 100,000 active patients in the system; by April of 2024, there were 80,186 active patients.” KRQE stated in its initial reporting.
“Data from the state’s Cannabis Control Division (CCD) shows that the total value of medical cannabis sales has decreased since recreational cannabis sales became legal in the state, and recreational sales have increased over that time.” the media outlet also stated.
New Mexico’s legal cannabis industry generated $67,440,312 in tax revenue in 2023 alone.
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.