Many states are sacrificing the long-term health and sustainability of the legal cannabis market for theoretical short-term gains reaped by sky-high taxes.
Category: Economics
“Cannabis legalization is a proven economic driver. Regulated markets create jobs, disrupt the underground marketplace, and provide for new tax revenues that are redirected back into the local community — resulting in greater economic growth and prosperity, in addition to safer communities.”
“The state-legal cannabis workforce is a significant economic driver. It is long past time for Congress to end prohibition and start treating this robust regulated market like any other industry.”
“Legalizing and regulating cannabis provides for more job opportunities, greater tax revenues, and safe access to high quality products at increasingly affordable prices,” NORML’s State Policy Manager Jax James said. “This economic data shows once again why legalization is a preferable policy option over criminal prohibition.”
“It’s time for local officials to put an end to the NIMBYism and unwarranted fears surrounding the establishment of licensed marijuana retailers. Cannabis is here and here to stay. Municipalities need to embrace this reality and provide the necessary oversight in order to hold these businesses accountable and to make this marketplace safe, transparent and profitable for the community.”
The cannabis industry created an average of 280 new jobs per day in 2021. That represents a 33 percent year-over-year increase, and it marks the fifth year in a row of annual jobs growth greater than 27 percent.
The analysis reported, “Between April 2017 and April 2021, property values rose $17,113 more in states where recreational marijuana is legal, compared to states where marijuana is illegal or limited to medicinal use.”
Members of the House of Representatives voted today in favor of a stand-alone piece of legislation, The SAFE Banking Act, to remedy the ongoing inconsistencies between state and federal marijuana laws.