Legal cannabis on pace to match U.S. soda sales by 2030
Marijuana buds are displayed at the Barbary Coast cannabis lounge and dispensary on Mission Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 15, 2018. So far, only the San Francisco Bay Area has legal cannabis lounges, but West Hollywood and Palm Springs are looking to open some as soon as they are able to. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
PUBLISHED: April 6, 2018 at 12:00 pm | UPDATED: April 6, 2018 at 1:12 pm
Pot may be on its way to beating pop. (Editor’s note: Yes, we know it’s called “soda” out here on the West Coast, but we didn’t want to mess with this writer’s lead.)
The U.S. legal cannabis industry is expected to reach $75 billion in sales by 2030, according to research firm Cowen & Co. That’s almost as large as the North American carbonated soft drink market in 2017.
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With the industries’ diverging trajectories, weed may be poised to take the mantle as the larger industry. Cannabis is growing rapidly as more states legalize the plant. Nine states and Washington, D.C. now allow for recreational pot use. That means more than one in five American adults can smoke, vape, eat or drink it however they please. Cowen previously predicted that the market, assuming federal legalization, would reach $50 billion by 2026. That seems small now, according to analyst Vivien Azer.
