On Wednesday, Leafly released a new report showing almost half a million Americans worked full-time in the cannabis industry. Despite challenges related to the pandemic, figures from the report show that the industry is growing as states such as Connecticut, New Jersey and New York look to implement retail sales.
Now in its sixth year of reporting, Leafly partnered with Whitney Economics, a firm that analyzes the cannabis economy. According to Leafly CEO Yoko Miyashita, the company’s operations filled the gap that has led to a lack of federal reporting. Moreover, the company also aims to advocate for social equity in federal legalization.
Adult-use markets and medical state markets saw a $6 billion increase in comparison to 2020’s figures. The total amount of cannabis products sold last year amounted to about $25 billion.
Furthermore, the marijuana sector is growing faster than other traditional markets. According to the report, 2021 marked the fifth year in a row that job growth was more than 27% in comparison to general businesses, which are expected to experience an 8% growth this decade.
Unlike the other sectors, expansion in the cannabis industry is being faced by job shortages. With pending enforcements in key states, more hiring will be done to match consumer demand. Miyashita says that the employment numbers show the potential of cannabis as an economic driver.
Last year, about 430,000 people were employed in the sector with a total of more than 100,000 new jobs created. This is the first time the number of new jobs exceeded six figures. In 2020, about 320,000 people were employed with a total of 77,300 jobs created. The report observes that there are now three times as many people working in the sector in comparison to dentists. Moreover, the report predicts that total employment will reach 1.75 million.
It is estimated that every day 280 jobs are created in the cannabis industry, which translates to a person getting hired every two minutes during a work day. Across states, the data figures on job revenue, sales and tax revenue supports the report’s overall observations. For example, the medical marijuana sector in Missouri accounted for one in every 10 jobs created.
State officials from Colorado reported that the state made more than $2.22 billion in sales and recorded $423 million in tax revenue. Meanwhile, Massachusetts made $74.2 million in the form of marijuana taxes in comparison to $51.3 million from alcohol.
According to a Marijuana Policy Project report, states where marijuana is legal made more than $10 billion in tax revenue since 2014 when licensing started.
This data is testament to the economic impact that state-licensed companies such as Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF) are having in the jurisdictions where they are licensed to operate.
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