New data suggests legal weed sales are outpacing other mainstreamed commercial products.
According to the 2019 edition of the Marijuana Business Factbook, legal cannabis brought in between $8.6 billion to $10 billion in sales last year. Given the higher end of that estimate, that means weed outsold nicotine-based e-cigarettes, Goldfish crackers, and the popular video game Fortnite — combined.
In comparison, Taco Bell sold $10.8 billion worth of fast food the same year.
Weed sales are expected to increase in the near future, especially on the eastern half of the US where the population densities are higher than on the already-legal West Coast. Last week, Illinois made progress to become the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana, with sales expected to launch January 2020. Maine, which legalized in 2017, should roll-out legal weed sales soon, too.
“By the end of 2023, sales of legal cannabis in the United States could exceed Americans’ collective spending on gym memberships,” wrote Eli McVey at Marijuana Business Daily. Gym memberships are currently a $28.6 billion-dollar industry.
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