Legal Marijuana Currently Yields Over 100,000 Jobs and Billions in Taxes

The number of people working full-time in legal marijuana industry positions is between 125,000 – 160,000. That outnumbers those employed as librarians and kindergarten teachers nationwide. Some popular industry positions include dispensary budtenders, cultivators, and processors.

According to Garret Rudolph of Marijuana Venture there are more than 40 states with some sort of medical and/or recreational marijuana law in place, Forbes reports. Most of the businesses in the industry are smaller in-state operations.

Tom Adams of BDS Analytics in Colorado speculates that about $12.9 billion in revenues were taken in just in 2017, generating between $3.8 billion and $4.7 billion in tax revenues.

It is estimated that the marijuana industry job count could reach 340,000 full-time positions within the next 4 years.

Hadley Ford of iAnthus Capital Holdings said, “As the cannabis industry continues to grow, successful companies will focus on being well-positioned and prepared for capitalizing on new opportunities. We have a position outlook on how the industry is progressing.”

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren