Americans Bought More Weed Than Starbucks Coffee In 2021

Legal cannabis sales in the United States eclipsed Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) sales, reported MJBizDaily, which cited the 2022 MJBiz Factbook. 

The development comes even though coffee is legal in all 50 states.

The cannabis industry saw an increase in sales of 30% in 2021. Starbucks’ annual revenue in North America grew by 25%.

Legal recreational and medical cannabis sales landed in a range of $24.5 billion to $27 billion in 2021, while Starbucks raked in $20.5 billion in sales, the report said. 

In comparison, sales of over-the-counter sleep aids — a commonly named reason for using cannabis — increased by less than 1%, and sales of pain relievers grew 5% in 2021, the report said. 

Legal, Adult Use Cannabis Sales Surpass $3.7B In 2021

In April, the Marijuana Policy Project released an updated report on tax revenue generated from state-legal, adult-use cannabis that includes totals for the entirety of 2021.

In 2021 alone, legalized states generated more than $3.7 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is a 34% increase in revenue over 2020.

As of March 2022, states reported a combined total of $11.2 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales since 2014, when sales began in Colorado and Washington state.

Global cannabis sales for 2022 will reach just over $35 billion, a jump of approximately 22% over 2021 sales of $29 billion, according to BDSA’s most recent five-year rolling market forecast update. BDSA forecast global cannabis sales will surpass $61 billion in 2026, for a compound annual growth rate of more than 16%.

Image Via El Planteo.