Since legalization two years ago, Colorado’s cannabis industry has out performed most of the state’s industries. In sales alone marijuana nearly broke the $1 billion mark. Sales saw a 42 percent increase over the inaugural year, and it is predicted that the demand for legal cannabis will grow over 11 percent each year through 2020.
The reason why legalizing cannabis can be so beneficial for a state’s economy is because it is completely confined to the borders of that state. This allows the state and its residents to maximize the benefits of the industry and not lose any of the profits to out-of-state companies. In 2015 alone, 18,000 jobs related to the industry were created in Colorado, and, because Colorado gets to solely reap the cannabis rewards, cannabis spending created more employment per dollar and economic output than 90 percent of Colorado’s industries.
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