Legal Cannabis Sales Projected to Be 75B by 2030

As more states legalize marijuana, a new report suggests that sales of legal cannabis in the United States could reach $75 billion annually by 2030.[1]

That’s roughly the size of the soda and carbonated beverage industry today. Given that soda sales are declining, it’s possible that legalized pot will outpace soda sales within a decade.

An earlier Number of the Day noted that, in 2016, legal marijuana sales totaled $6 billion. However, illegal sales were estimated at $25 billion. An estimated 16 percent of Americans have tried cocaine.

According to Bloomberg News, however, "the industry that’s hearing alarm bells is alcohol. Binge drinking rates declined in states with legal weed compared with states that allow only medical marijuana and those prohibiting any kind of pot."[1]

In the 19th century, sellers of alcohol were deeply concerned about the impact of letting women vote. At that time, it was believed that women were more likely than men to support prohibition.[2]

From the 19th century until the 1970s, the number of breweries in the United States declined steadily due to consolidation and centralization. Mirroring a broader societal trend of decentralization, however, the number of breweries began to grow again in the late 1970s. With the popularity of craft beers, the number of breweries recently surpassed the 19th-century totals.

1. Bloomberg, "Cannabis Sales May Surpass Soda by 2030," April 4, 2018
2. The New York Times, "Women, Booze and the Vote," March 5, 2018

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.​

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.