News

Actions

U.S. marijuana jobs set to outpace manufacturing

Posted at 7:38 PM, Feb 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-27 19:38:03-05

The White House hinted, last week, that it may crack down on states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

Marijuana industry experts hope a new jobs prediction report might take the target off of the legal pot business.

According to a report from Frontier Data, marijuana-related jobs are set to outpace manufacturing jobs in the United States by 2020.

The report estimates over the next three years, legalized marijuana will create 300,000 jobs.

Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana in the United States, and the booming business there has created 20,000 jobs as well as providing a boost to ancillary businesses.

"With the new industry comes all the support services, which is why there is such a huge multiplier effect every time a new cannabis market opens," said Kristi Kelly, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group.

That job growth prediction is based on just the 28 states that currently have marijuana legalized in some form, and not states which may legalize in the coming years.