The CEO of Curaleaf, the biggest cannabis company, talks about where the industry and legalization in the U.S. is now. Unlike most of the new reports on YouTube, this one is recent, from March 2022. At 2:34 there's a map of the U.S., showing the legalization status, state by state.
"It's time for legislators to catch up with the American public."
-Joe Byron, Curaleaf, in the clip above.
My weed smoking days only lasted about a year and a half, starting when I graduated high school in 1984. As I got more serious into BMX freestyle, and I quit smoking, thinking that being sober would help me ride better. Yeah, I know how funny that sounds, about half the pro freestylers I got to know later were stoners. I smoked a bit when visiting my Idaho friends again in 1987, and took a couple hits at a Cirque du Soleil party in 1997. So I haven't smoked in decades, but I've been pro legalization this whole time.
I think it's real funny that the state I first smoked weed in, Idaho, is one of the few holdouts where it's still completely illegal. When I lived there in the 80's it was openly reported on the news that the state's three biggest crops, by sales, were potatoes, sugar beets, and weed. What's up Idaho? You were ahead of the game 35 years ago, and now you're laggin'.
Anyhow, what I still call marijuana or weed, now known mostly as cannabis, is recreationally legal in 18 states, and partially legal in 38, I believe. In total money taken in, the revenue for the cannabis industry was over $25 billion in 2021. To put that in perspective, the entire revenue for the NFL was around $18 billion last year, and the whole porn industry is estimated to rake in about $15 billion a year in the U.S. . Weed selling $25 billion... legally. Not bad for an industry that's fully legal in only 18 states. California's share of the cannabis market was about $5 billion last year. Yet another reason for the "West Coast Best Coast slogan," especially since it's legal recreationally in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, too. So even when it's only partially legal, weed is legally serious business in the United States. They also cite a 68% nationwide legalization approval poll in the country, in the video above.
So while I don't smoke myself, because I'm weird enough without THC, cheers to all my stoner friends out there. Happy 4/20!
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