A recent poll conducted by market research firm The Terrance Group of likely voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin found strong support for legalizing cannabis for adult-use, in addition to other cannabis policy reforms.
The polling results, which were first reported by Marijuana Moment, found that respondents favor liberalizing cannabis laws regardless of the voter’s political party affiliation. The poll determined the following:
- 64% in Michigan support legalization (Michigan legalized in 2018)
- 58% in Pennsylvania support legalization
- 62% in Wisconsin support legalization
“Supermajorities in each state favor medical cannabis access. (Of the three states, only Wisconsin prohibits medical cannabis use.) Respondents also overwhelmingly favor reforming federal marijuana laws so that cannabis is no longer classified as a Schedule I controlled substance and so state-licensed businesses can partner with banks and other financial institutions.” stated NORML in its coverage of the poll.
“Nationally, 92 percent of Americans support patients’ rights to access cannabis, and seven in ten say that it should be legal for everyone over the age of 21, according to recent polling. Roughly three-quarters of likely voters also support lifting federal prohibitions on cannabis, including the laws restricting banks from working with state-legal marijuana businesses.” NORML also stated.
“Legalizing and regulating adult-use cannabis access is not only good policy, but it’s also good politics,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “State and federal politicians who continue to ignore their constituents’ sentiments on these issues do so at their own political peril.”
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.