In 2022, the Vermont Legislative Joint Fiscal Office projected that by June 2022 the state’s legal cannabis industry would have an annual market value of $86 million by June 2024. However, according to Vermont Cannabis Control Board Chair James Pepper, Vermont’s legal market reached $128 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2024.
“Since the first three legal recreational cannabis retailers opened on October 1, 2022, the number of dispensaries statewide has grown to 77, according to the control board.” VTDigger reported in its local coverage. “As the flow of money grows, officials are weighing how to guide the industry toward a sustainable, equitable future.”
Vermont became the first state in the U.S. to pass an adult-use cannabis legalization measure back in 2018. It was also the first state to pass a recreational cannabis legalization measure that did not include regulated sales. Vermont would later adopt a regulated sales model in 2020, with legal adult-use sales launching in 2022.
“Under Vermont’s regulations, adults aged 21 and over with valid identification can purchase up to one ounce of marijuana or 8,400 milligrams of THC in alternative products. Adults can also securely cultivate up to 2 plants (and up to 4 immature plants).” states the Marijuana Policy Project. “The state imposes a 14% excise tax, 6% sales tax, and 1% local tax option on cannabis sales.”
Vermont’s legal cannabis industry generated $21,642,857 in tax revenue in 2023. Vermont was the 9th state in the U.S. to adopt a medical cannabis legalization measure (2004), with legal medical cannabis sales launching in 2011.
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.