A new report from Marijuana Business Daily estimates that the total demand for marijuana in the cannabis industry is worth around $45-$50 billion in the US.
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For context, they put these numbers alongside a few other classic American staples:
- Ice cream sales are around $5.1 billion
- Movie tickets come in at $11.1 billion
- Girl Scout Cookies rake in $776 million
- Paid streaming music is a $2.5 billion industry
Surprised? There’s more. As Forbes notes:
The report points out that these employees spend their earnings on housing, food, travel and entertainment, which helps other local businesses. The launch of all these cannabis businesses has sparked a real estate boom in spaces that were for the most part previously vacant. Tourism is bringing new travel dollars into these states as well.
The report estimates that for every $1 consumers spend at dispensaries, another $3 in economic benefits are created in cities, states and nationwide. State and local municipalities are plugging holes in their budgets with the marijuana tax receipts and making infrastructure repairs and boosting schools.
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“On the recreational side of the business, the originally legalized states are still posting massive growth,” Chris Walsh, editor of Marijuana Business Daily, which published the report, said according to Forbes. “The demand for marijuana is so enormous in this country.”
