Cannabis Adds $43.5 Billion To Canada's GDP Since Legalization, Will US Follow?

Canada, known as "The Land of the Maple Leaf," is seeing green with a different leaf. With the legalization of recreational marijuana in October 2018, Canada has seen a $43.5 billion boost to its gross domestic product.

According to an annual report from Deloitte Canada, the industry generated $11 billion in sales across the country and made $29 billion in capital expenditures. The Canadian government made $15.1 billion in tax revenue off marijuana. The industry has also sustained 98,000 jobs per year.

Canada's marijuana profits could have a strong impact on new measures being introduced on Capitol Hill. Though most Americans support the legalization of marijuana industries, the Senate has stalled in removing marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which means federal law still prohibits its use for medical purposes.

Five years ago, there were 122,800 jobs in the U.S. cannabis industry. A jobs report released Wednesday by Leafly found that there were "428,059 full-time equivalent jobs supported by legal cannabis as of January 2022" in the U.S.

Leafly also found that the U.S. cannabis industry, separate but related to the marijuana industry — though many used terms interchangeably — sold $25 billion in products in 2021, and the industry created 107,000 jobs. Based on that number, estimates suggest the cannabis industry in the U.S. creates 280 jobs per day.

To put those jobs numbers in perspective, the financial sector in the U.S. added 145,000 jobs in 2021. There are three times as many cannabis workers in the U.S. than there are dentists and cannabis workers outnumber insurance salespeople. Cannabis workers also outnumber those who work as hairstylists, barbers, and cosmetologists combined.

Despite the economic benefits, the legalization of marijuana still varies by state in the U.S. There are 18 states that have fully legalized marijuana for recreational use over the age of 21, while 38 have legalized it for medicinal use only. Production and sales are largely illegal outside of medicinal applications, and federal law prohibits its use but some lawmakers are working to change that.

"Hopefully the next time this unofficial holiday 4/20 rolls around, our country will have made progress in addressing the massive over-criminalization of marijuana in a meaningful and comprehensive way,” said Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on April 20, 2021.

A lack of recreational legalization has led to 75% of demand being met by illegal growers and sellers in 2021 in the U.S., according to an estimate by Whitney Economics. Leafly estimated that cannabis revenue in the U.S. would amount to $45 billion in 2025, taking into account less than half of the potential national market.

There are a lot of things to consider when legalizing marijuana as legislators weigh the benefits for growers, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers. According to National Law Review, there are four federal bills — three with comprehensive legislation — that would reform the cannabis industry including the MORE Act, the CAO Act, and the SRA act.