Cannabis Statistics

Cannabis is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Cannabis use is more common than the use of cocaine, hallucinogens, and inhalants combined. There’s a lot of misinformation circulating about cannabis. It’s critical to understand what’s true and what isn’t.

Usage

1. Cannabis was the most widely used drug around the world in 2017, with an estimated 188 million consumers that year, according to a report from the United Nations. Cannabis usage has steadily increased over the past 20 years, which could be attributed to the global cannabis access increase.
2. In the United States, annual cannabis use rose from 9.9% of the adult population in 2007 to 15.3% a decade later, according to MJBizDaily. Eleven states have legalized recreational cannabis since 2007. More states are expected to follow suit.
3. A 2016 Gallup poll shows that 13% of Americans are active users. This is nearly twice as many since the 2013 poll. Cannabis is slowly becoming the new after-work substance of choice.
4. According to data from cannabis delivery service Eaze’s 450,000-person user base and from 4,000 survey respondents, first-time cannabis consumers increased by 140% with Baby Boomers and women as the fastest growing segments. The cannabis consumer is diversifying across age and gender.
5. If you’ve consumed cannabis, you’ve most likely done it recreationally. 74% of cannabis consumers are likely to have prior experience with adult-use cannabis.
6. Cannabis isn’t just bought for recreational purposes, however. 92% of medical cannabis patients say it is effective.
7. Both men and women consume cannabis, but men consume slightly more often. A study showed that 48% of men have tried cannabis and 34% of women have tried it in the US. 
8. There has never been an overdose death caused by cannabis. Alcohol, on the other hand, is another story. By a margin of 72% to 20%, Americans say that regular alcohol use is more of a health risk than regular cannabis use.
9. 52% of the country’s 55 million pot users are millennials. Millennials weren’t raised with as strong a stigma surrounding cannabis as Baby Boomers.
10. Cannabis serves a variety of functions. Asked why they currently use cannabis, only 16% of smokers said it was “just to have fun.” The rest cited a variety of reasons: 37% said they used cannabis to relax; 19% said they do it to relieve pain, 10% said it helps them be social.
11. Who said parents can’t consume cannabis? 54% of adults who use cannabis are parents. A majority of those parents - 16 million - have children under the age of 18.
12. Say what you will about cannabis, one thing it’s helping eliminate is opioid overdoses. One study found that 44% of medical cannabis users stopped taking a pharmaceutical drug, or used less of one, or both, in favor of cannabis.
13. One study found that 78% of those using cannabis used it to help treat a medical or health condition. Cannabis treats a variety of diseases: cancer, Crohn’s, eating disorders, glaucoma, and the list goes on.
14. Cannabis isn’t age discriminatory. About 18% of American consumers aged 18 to 29 use cannabis. Another 10% of consumers aged 30 to 49 and 8% aged 50 to 64 also use cannabis.
15. Of 327 million Americans, around 55 million of them - around 17% - use cannabis regularly. This is a considerable portion of the population that currently uses cannabis.
16. In 2016, a report found that recreational users shopped for cannabis, on average, every 14 days and spent $49 per transaction. That same year, medical marijuana users shopped every 10 days and spent $136 per transaction. Medical cannabis users are shopping more often and spending more money than recreational users.

Legality

1. As of June 2020, 11 states have legalized the use of adult-use cannabis. Those states include California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Vermont, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Illinois.
2. As of June 2020, 33 states have legalized medical cannabis. Those states include Montana, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Arizona, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, North Dakota, Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Missouri, California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Vermont, Michigan, and Massachusetts.
3. Two in three Americans support the legalization of adult-use cannabis, according to Gallup. Currently 53% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats are in favor. This is the first time Republicans reached majority support for legalization in the cannabis poll.
4. Cannabis enforcement is extremely expensive. States spend over $3 billion every year to enforce cannabis laws.
5. The War on Drugs still is affecting our society today. Of the 8.2 million cannabis arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having cannabis.
6. 70% of American who have tried cannabis at least once support legalizing adult-use weed. Only 26% of those who haven't tried it say the same.
7. The tides are turning when it comes to federal legalization support. Regardless of whether they support legalization or use it themselves, 56% of Americans say that using cannabis is “socially acceptable.”
8. West Coast states, such as Washington and California, have the most expansive opportunities for cannabis dispensaries. Due to the legality and booming market in these areas, this portion of the US has immense potential for dispensaries.

Financials

1. The cannabis global market is exploding, pushing it further into the financial and cultural mainstream. In 2018, investors put $10 billion into the North American cannabis market.
2. The size of average capital raised for North American cannabis firms is steadily rising. Through the fourth week of January 2019, public cannabis companies raised $394.1 million, with an average funding round of $24.6 million.
3. As the rules and regulations around cannabis begin to loosen, with improving sentiment surrounding recreational usage, more businesses are starting to dabble and expand the cannabis industry. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF, the only US-listed dedicated cannabis exchange traded fund listed, reported $1.01 billion in assets under management.
4. Cannabis isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Wall Street’s top cannabis analyst, Cowen Vivien Azer, predicted that the US cannabis industry will grow to $80 billion by 2030. What bubble?
5. CBD isn’t far behind cannabis. Cowen Vivien Azer also predicted that CBD will bring in $1.6 billion in total revenue in the US within 1-2 years.
6. In 2018, the US had 9 billion in sales of legal cannabis.
7. Today, the United States is the epicenter of the legal cannabis market and it appears it will hold that position for the foreseeable future. In 2017, the worldwide legal cannabis market grew by 37% and was worth $9.5 billion. At $8.5 billion, the US accounted for 90% of it.
8. It’s difficult not to spend some money at a dispensary. Most people spend an average of $25 to $50 per trip at a cannabis retailer.
9. The cannabis market is expected to be pulling in about $23 billion in revenue in 2021.
10. Cannabis is starting to overtake traditional industries. In 2017, the sales of legal cannabis in the US topped those of the combined sales of Oreos and organic produce.

Employment

1. According to Glassdoor, Cannabis jobs pay higher than the US median salary. The median salary for cannabis industry job openings is $58,511 per year, approximately $5,648 higher than the US median salary of $52,863.
2. Not only is the cannabis industry providing a lot of jobs, but it also is showing great ROI for business owners. Nearly 90% of all operating dispensaries, cultivators, and manufacturing companies report that they are profitable.
3. Women are at the helm in the cannabis industry. Women hold 36% of executive positions in the cannabis industry, as opposed to 15% in other industries.
4. The cannabis industry employs five times more Americans than the coal industry.
5. The average price for an ounce of topshelf cannabis in the US is $320. This stat shows how incredibly lucrative the cannabis industry can be.
6. The startup cost for a regulated cannabis dispensary is approximately $775,000. While these costs may seem steep, dispensary revenue statistics show how valuable this investment can be.
7. Cannabis businesses are expensive to operate. This is mainly due to the amount of regulations cannabis businesses have to adhere to. Annual operating costs for a regulated cannabis dispensary average about $1.92 million annually.
8. From December 2017 to 2018, the demand for jobs in the cannabis industry was as high as 76%.

CBD

1. CBD and cannabis are expanding simultaneously. The cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to hit $22 billion by 2022.
2. Millennials are privy to the CBD market. One study found that 18-34 year-olds comprise 39% of hemp-derived CBD users.
3. 10% of Americans between ages 18-44 use CBD regularly. This might have something to do with the fact that anxiety is the most common ailment treated with CBD.
4. Western states are the most CBD-friendly. Of all the adults in the US that have tried CBD, 27% live in a Western state.
5. White people tend to consume CBD the most. 66% of CBD users surveyed by the Brightfield Group were caucasian.
6. Most CBD users are not single. 43% of CBD users are married, and 61% of CBD users live with their significant other.
7. Educated people are using CBD too. 44% of hemp-derived CBD users are college graduates. Compared to only 34% of the population having a college degree.
8. The CBD market is projected to grow to nearly $2 billion by 2022. In 2017, CBD sales reached $367 million and ballooned to $845 billion by 2019.