Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
With more and more states legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, the cannabis industry is looking at exponential growth in the coming years, especially in states like Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia.
Shutterstock
In its latest report, forecasters at Headset Analytics, which tracks data for the cannabis market, expects sales to reach almost $46 billion by 2025 across all 50 states.
“Within the last decade, opportunities for growth and development within the market have accelerated after Colorado, Washington and several other states legalized adult-use cannabis,” CEO and co-founder of Headset Cy Scott says. “Despite the country’s piecemeal approach to legalization, individual states have created optimal conditions for improved scalability and sophisticated operations across distinct markets.”
RELATED: Some New Jersey and New York Towns Want to Opt Out of Selling Cannabis. That’s a Mistake
Key takeaways of the report
While 2022 will be a big year — hopefully — on the federal legalization front, 2023 is poised to bring more to the cannabis markets in several states.
With a massive medical marijuana boom coming to Florida, Headset says the Sunshine State is expected to reach $3.2 billion sales in 2025, making it the second largest cannabis market in the U.S. behind California.
In New York, adult-use licenses are expected to be issued in 2023, which will help propel it to be the third largest cannabis market in the country. With a population of 21-and-older reaching 15 million, sales are expected to reach nearly $3 billion by 2025.
Nearby New Jersey, with its adult-use transition expected in March 2022, is projected to have more than 7 million of adult cannabis users that will produce upwards of $1.6 billion in sales.
While Ohio isn’t a recreational-use state (yet), it’s considered an emerging market and projected to reach almost $2 billion by 2025. Followed by Virginia, whose adult-age population could push sales to $1.3 billion with their spending power.
“With record levels of public and regulatory support for the regulated cannabis industry, the value of the domestic market will increase significantly over the next three years,” Scott adds.
