40 Incredible Marijuana Statistics

With the cannabis industry growing and more states adopting to legalize the use of marijuana, whether for medical use, recreational use, or both, more people are keeping up with trends than ever before. The cannabis culture is pushing forward and expectations are high.

Here are 40 unbelievable statistics on marijuana:

Marijuana Cultivation

1. There are over 779 strains of cannabis around the world. Though, it's likely to be more when you take into account that breeders are creating new strains all the time, whether indica, sativa, or a hybrid strain. (Source: Green Rush Daily)

2. The popular belief is that marijuana is 57-67% more potent than it was in the 70's, according to the testing of marijuana samples carried out by Natural Center for Natural Projects Research. (Source: Leafly)

3. In 2013, of the estimated 22 million pounds of US grown marijuana each year, Kentucky, California, Tennessee, Hawaii, and Washington grew roughly 80% of all crops. (Source: Mother Jones)

Medical Use of Marijuana

4. According to a study published in Health Affairs, over $165.2 Million in Medicare was saved in 2013 after states implemented medical marijuana laws. (Source: NPR)

5. Suicide rates in Colorado decreased 5% since marijuana was made legal, according to a paper published by IZA. Estimating an 11% reduction in suicide rates for males age 20-29, and 9% reduction in suicide rates for males 30-39, with an overall reduction of 5%. (Source: Crave)

6. From 1990-2014, there were 60 peer-reviewed studies on medical marijuana. This does not include other studies done on marijuana. (Source: ProCon)

7. There are about 10 Big-Pharma drugs based on cannabis. Sativex, Dronabinol / Marinol, Nabilone / Cesamet, Dexanabinol, CT-3 ((ajulemic acid), Cannabinor (formerly PRS-211,375), HU 308, HU 331, Rimonabant / Acomplia, Taranabant / MK-0364. Not all drugs have been approved. (Source: ProCon)

8. According to Trend Statistics, there are over 2,604,079 medical marijuana patients in 2016, with 19.8 patients per thousand residents in Colorado, 19.4 patients per thousand residents in Phoenix AZ, Las Vegas NV, and California, and 19.2 patients per thousand residents in Washington and Oregon. (Source: Trend Statistics)

9. 76% of doctors around the world approve the legalized use of medical marijuana for patients. (Source: Cannabisser)

10. According to a health survey done in 2012 on 7,525 California adults by the Public Health Institute in partnership with the CDC, 92% of those surveyed claim that medical marijuana works for them. (Source: Cannabisser, Washington Post)

11. Surveys conducted in recent years suggest that the public approval of medical marijuana has increased, and remain above 77% since 2011. (Source: Statista)

12. The number of marijuana dispensaries that outnumber Starbucks locations in Colorado, alone is 3 to 1. (Source: FactSlides)

13. Patients who tried Charlotte's Web, a specific strain of medical marijuana that is low in THC and high in CBD, saw a decrease in seizure activity by at least 50%. The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is conducting a new study to compare the genetics of patients who have seen success with the drug. (Source: Science Daily)

14. Between 2008 and 2014 the National Institutes of Health spent $1.4 billion on marijuana research, with only $297 million being spent on potential medical uses. The remaining $1.1 billion was spent on abuse and addiction studies. (Source: Scientific American)

Legal State of Marijuana

15. "Every year, about 98% of all of the grass removed by the DEA's "Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program" is really hemp." Hemp contains less than 1% of THC. (Source: Cannabisser)

16. From 1969 to 2016, the number of people who support the legalization of marijuana has increased significantly. Today, at least 57% of US adults think marijuana use should be made legal, as opposed to only 32% a decade ago. (Source: Pew Research)

17. 29 states that have, or will have, laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use, medical use, or both. In 2016, sales of marijuana totaled $6.7 billion and is projected to rise to $20.2 billion by 2021, according to a report by Arcview Market Research. (Source: The Cannabist)

18. 28 states, along with Washington DC, allow some form of marijuana use. Medical use is legal in 28 states and Washington, DC, recreational use is legal in 8 states, and 17 states allow limited access marijuana products with low THC/high CBD cannabidiol. That counts for over 35 states with some form of legalized use. (Source: ProCon, National Conference of State Legislatures-NCLS)

19. Marijuana prohibition costs the US $17.5 Billion each year. (Source: Herb.co)

Marijuana Use

20. The percentage of Americans who say they have tried marijuana is about 49%. That's nearly half, with 12% in the last year. (Source: Pew Research)

21. 3.8% of the population worldwide who smoke marijuana at least once a year, according to the United Nations. That's around 266 million people. (Source: Priceonomics)

22. According to a RAND Corporation study, which surveyed people from four western states where medical marijuana is legal, 88% of people who use marijuana for medical purposes also use it recreationally. (Source: RAND)

The Business Side of Marijuana

23. In 2014, Colorado saw a 143% increase in workers licensed to work in the cannabis industry. According to the Marijuana Enforcement Division's first annual report, there were 15,992 licensed in December, compared to 6,593 at the beginning of the year. (Source: The Cannabist)

24. "ArcView expects the legal pot market to show a compound annual growth rate of nearly 30% over the next few years." ArcView's report, The State of Legal Marijuana Markets, predicts the legal cannabis market will see $21.8 billion in annual sales by 2020. (Source: Fortune)

25. Colorado issued more than 2,500 business licenses by the end of 2015. 900 of those licenses were for dispensaries. That means there were more dispensaries than McDonalds, 7-Elevens, and Starbucks combined. (Source: Colorado Pot Guide)

26. According to ArcView Market Research, the recreational cannabis market grew 74% in 2014. The medical marijuana industry brought in 1.2 billion in 2014. Marijuana has earned the title of the fastest growing industry in the US. (Source: Herb.co)

Sales of Marijuana

27. Sales of marijuana in Washington nearly doubled in 2016 to $696 million. A 95% increase from a year earlier. (Source: Marijuana Business Daily)

28. In 2016, sales of recreational marijuana neared $900 million. That's up 49% from 2015. (Source: Marijuana Business Daily)

29. In 2014, 90% of recreational marijuana sales in Colorado's mountain resort communities came from out-of-state tourists. (Source: The Cannabist)

30. Total sales of recreational marijuana in Colorado from January to October of 2014 was $246,810,599.03:. (Source: The Cannabist)

31. The total sales of medical marijuana in Colorado from January to October of 2014 was $326,716,273.59. That's a total of $573,526,872.62 in combined sales for medical and recreational marijuana in a 10 month period. (Source: The Cannabist)

32. Major brewers have seen a decline in sales in 2015-2016 in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. MillerCoors saw a decline of 4.4% in Coors Light sales for the two years, while Anheuser Busch-InBev saw a similar drop in Budlight sales. (Source: Small Biz Trends)

33. "The retail marijuana product edible trend differs from the sales trend for flowering retail marijuana, where the latter only comprised 26 percent of total flowering marijuana sold in pounds. Retail marijuana product edibles accounted for approximately 59 percent of total units of edibles sold in 2014." (Source: The Cannabist)

34. At least 70% of jurisdictions in Colorado do not allow sales of marijuana, of any kind. According to a state report, out of 321 jurisdictions, 67 allow sales of medical and recreational marijuana, 21 allow sales only for medical marijuana, 5 allow sales only for recreational marijuana, with 228 jurisdictions prohibiting sales of any marijuana. (Source: The Cannabist)

35. In Colorado, nearly 150,000 lbs. of marijuana flowers were sold in 2014, and roughly 4.8 million edible marijuana products sold in the same year. (Source: Time)

36. In 2016, retail sales of marijuana concentrates in the Colorado medical and recreational marijuana markets surged 125% in the first quarter, from the same period in 2015. (Source: Marijuana Business Daily)

37. Edible sales in Colorado rose 53% in 2016. That's a staggering comparison to the 11% increase seen in the sales of marijuana flowers. (Source: Marijuana Business Daily)

38. Edibles made up roughly half of retail marijuana sales from 2015-2016. Even more fascinating is that sales from both recreational and medical marijuana in 2015, brought in more cash than the combined sales of Doritos, Funyuns, and Cheetos. (Source: The 420 Times)

39. In 2015, consumers were sold 148,248 lbs. of marijuana in Colorado alone. That's more than 74 tons. (Source: Post Independent)

40. Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division fined shop owners $413,500 in 2015 for violating regulations. Such violations included keeping employees licensed, maintaining legal limits on how much marijuana could be kept on hand, and properly disposing of cannabis waste. (Source: Post independent)

So, what's in store for the cannabis industry in 2017? We can expect to see more research being done on the use and benefits of medical marijuana. We can also expect a push from those who support legalization of marijuana to make it legal on a federal level. It's not yet known what strides the cannabis industry will make in 2017, but it's probable we'll see at least small advancements by the end of the year.

Sources:

. the420times.com

. mjbizdaily.com

. time.com

. thecannabist.co

. smallbiztrends.com

. herb.co

. coloradopotguide.com

. fortune.com

. rand.org

. priceonomics.com

. pewresearch.org