Editor's Note: Great article in U.S. News & World Report by Cannabis Business Times contributor Steven Nelson, who covers drug policy for U.S. News.
State-legal sales of marijuana jumped nearly 20 percent to $5.4 billion last year, according to a market analysis report released Monday, which projects average annual growth of 30 percent through 2020.
Though sales of marijuana for medical use – allowed in about half of states – still dominate the national cannabis market, making up about $4.4 billion of 2015 sales, the growth rate for recreational marijuana was steeper, rocketing 184 percent to an estimated $998 million last year.
The overall economic impact of the booming quasi-legal sector and its ancillary businesses, which unlike their black market forerunners pay state and federal taxes, was not quantified in the report, which will be released in full later this month.
