Sales of legal cannabis in North America are growing even faster than experts predicted they would.
A new report from Arcview Market Research says retail cannabis sales will jump 33% over 2016’s totals to hit $10 billion this year. That’s a faster pace than the group had previously predicted. Researchers say next year’s numbers could increase by an even greater percentage.
Canada, in 2018, is expected to launch recreational sales of marijuana and Nevada will step up efforts for cannabis tourism. But it really comes down to California, which will begin selling recreational pot next year.
California’s medical marijuana market is already as big as the total markets in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon combined, according to BDS Analytics’ GreenEdge point-of-sale tracking service. Given the boost from that state and others that could change their laws (including New Jersey), Arcview says it expects the legal cannabis market to reach sales of $24.5 billion by 2021.
“Aside from cryptocurrency, there is simply no other industry changing as rapidly or as unevenly as the cannabis sector,” said Troy Dayton, CEO of The Arcview Group.