Voters in Washington D.C. approved adult-use cannabis legalization in 2014, however, recreational cannabis sales remain prohibited in D.C. due to Congress refraining from granting the federal district permission to conduct regulated adult-use cannabis commerce. Medical cannabis commerce is permitted in D.C.
Unregulated cannabis sales have proliferated Washington D.C. during the last decade, and according to the D.C. Council, unregulated cannabis shops sell over $600 million worth of product annually. By comparison, sales at regulated outlets were roughly $37.5 million in 2023 in D.C., less than 7% of total estimated annual unregulated sales.
D.C. lawmakers approved a medical cannabis legalization measure in May 2010. A component of the measure allowed the launch of eight initial medical cannabis dispensaries in the Washington D.C. area.
In January 2023, the Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 became effective. The measure overhauled Washington D.C.’s medical cannabis program, making the program more accessible to patients.
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.