Topline
For the second 12 months in a row, a record-high majority of People assist legalizing marijuana, in keeping with a new Gallup poll, as extra states have lately handed legal guidelines permitting the drug and a $17 billion business has sprung up round it.
Dave Warden, a bud tender at Personal Natural Remedy (P.O.T.), a non-profit co-operative medical … [+]
Getty Photos
Key Details
A file excessive of 68% of U.S. adults assist the legalization of marijuana, in keeping with the October survey of over 800 adults launched Thursday.
That’s the identical quantity of people that have been in favor of legalizing the drug final 12 months.
The numbers are in keeping with a Pew survey launched in April that discovered 60% of U.S. adults imagine medical and leisure use needs to be authorized, 31% imagine solely medical use needs to be authorized and eight% imagine no type of use needs to be authorized.
Main political events are nonetheless divided over the difficulty: Whereas 84% of Democrats and 71% of Independents assist legalization, solely 50% of Republicans do, in keeping with the Gallup report.
The will increase in recognition and legalization have led to a booming marijuana business, with gross sales of the drug amounting to $17.5 billion in 2020, up 46% from 2019.
Large Quantity
37. That’s how many states have legalized medical marijuana. Eighteen permit leisure use of the drug for residents over the age of 21.
Stunning Truth
Over 48.2 million individuals in america used marijuana in 2019, in keeping with the CDC. It’s now essentially the most generally used drug behind alcohol and tobacco, in keeping with the Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse.
Key Background
States started passing legal guidelines to legalize the medical and leisure use of marijuana in 2012, and in 2013 a majority of People supported these initiatives for the primary time. Nonetheless, marijuana use remains to be unlawful beneath federal legislation. A number of massive states lately handed legal guidelines permitting some type of use, together with Virginia and New Mexico. After years of makes an attempt, New York lastly legalized leisure use of marijuana this spring. Dispensaries have but to arrange store because the state finalizes details surrounding the legislation, and it’s estimated that it might develop into a $4.2 billion business.
Additional Studying
U.S. Cannabis Sales Hit Record $17.5 Billion As Americans Consume More Marijuana Than Ever Before (Forbes)
Washington, D.C. May See Recreational Marijuana Sales Under New Budget Bill (Forbes)
Inside Amazon’s Support To Legalize Marijuana At The Federal Level (Forbes)
