The marijuana industry continues to record impressive growth as legalization spreads into new states and more companies launch businesses. Recent numbers indicate that cannabis tax dollars are now in the billions, while cannabis jobs have reached almost half a million.

Those numbers come from state governments who report tax receipts, as well as industry analysts who track the number of jobs. In the second area, the marijuana industry has become one of the fastest-growing industries in the country.

Cannabis Taxes Reach New Highs

The Washington Post recently reported that cannabis tax dollars generated by weed sales totaled $11 billion for states and local municipalities between 2014 and 2021.

The Tax Policy Center recently released a report that showed Colorado and Washington took in more money from cannabis taxes than from alcohol or cigarette taxes in 2022. Additionally, Nevada reported higher cannabis tax income than alcohol tax income.

The report stated that “the experience of Colorado and Washington demonstrate that a state can collect a significant amount of revenue from marijuana taxes and that collection should mostly increase over time.”

The Tax Policy Center also put together a graphic on the cannabis tax rate per ounce in all 19 legal recreational cannabis states. Alaska had the highest rate, followed by Washington, New York, Connecticut and Nevada. The lowest rates are found in Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Cannabis Jobs Continue to Grow

The number of cannabis jobs reached 428,000 jobs in 2022, making the cannabis industry one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy. It marks the fifth year in a row that job growth in the cannabis industry exceeded 27 percent.

The cannabis industry created about 280 new jobs per day in 2021. States with the most jobs include:

• California (83,607)
• Colorado (38,337)
• Michigan (31,152)
• Illinois (28,992)

High population states such as New York and New Jersey that recently legalized adult use marijuana are expected to join that list in the coming years.

Although the state has not legalized adult-use marijuana, the medical marijuana industry in Florida showed remarkable growth, supporting 25,895 jobs. The state also added more than 200,000 people to the medical marijuana registered patient list.

Some of the fastest growing jobs across the country include budtender, edible maker, dispensary manager, delivery store manager and drivers, and security guard.

Many jobs also are growing in professions that provide services to the marijuana industry. They include attorneys, accountants, tax specialists, marketing and PR companies, and transportation companies.