As you’re probably well aware, California has made massive steps toward legalizing and decriminalizing cannabis in recent years. This has brought many opportunities to grow and sell marijuana commercially in the Golden State. With the increased demand for marijuana and the skyrocketing unemployment rates among native Californians, many people are turning to cannabis as a viable source of income. The Bay Area is no different.

1.Increase in Marijuana Usage –  According to Gallup there has been man increase in:

• Use of marijuana, with a jump from 16% in 2008 to 21% in 2012. [1]
• Requesting medical marijuana; with an increase from 3.2% in 2004 to 4.3% in 2013.
• Use of cannabis for recreational purposes; with an increase from 23% in 2009 to 28% in 2021

This shows that there has been a significant jump in marijuana usage and traffic over the past few years. By 2021, it is predicted that 40% of the state’s population will be using cannabis.

2.Increased Popularity of Edibles

Marijuana has been used in a variety of ways such as:

• Edibles- 9% .
• Concentrates- 19%
• Vaporizers- 15%
• Smoking-10%
• flowers-61%

With the legalization of edibles and other new methods of ingestion, there has been a surge of popularity growth in this industry. Marijuana edibles are food products that have been infused with medical marijuana. This can be anything from a piece of cake or cookies to brownies or even tea. As long as the food product is prepared with cannabis, it can fall under the category of marijuana edibles.

3.Women Using Cannabis

There has been a surge of women using marijuana. most women are using cannabis int he following percentages:

• Edibles- 58%
• Concentrates- 21%
• Vaporizers- 21%
• Smoking-8%
• Flowers-9%

This shows an increase in women using cannabis. Some women use cannabis for recreation and some for medical reasons. Furthermore, more women are using cannabis for recreational purposes rather than medical. This also shows that most women are using more edibles than smoking.

4.Taxation and Revenue

California has collected a considerable amount of money from the legalization of marijuana and the production and sales of cannabis. Between June 2021 and March 2022, California took in over $5.5 billion in taxes from legal marijuana sales. Most of this money came from:

• $3.4 billion from general sales taxes
• $1.4 billion from a special sales tax
• $874 million from cultivation taxes
• $855 million from excise taxes

This revenue will be used for social assistance programs and public projects. For instance, the state plans to use it to repair or reconstruct all state roads and freeways. Furthermore, this revenue is high due to California’s new “sin tax,” which is being added to marijuana.

5.Booming of San Francisco Online Ordering and Cannabis Delivery (Source)

The online business has:

• New sales jumped by 60% in 2020
• New consumers jumped by 12% in 2021
• the sales enabled its sales by 22% more than stores without order ahead

This shows how the marijuana industry is growing and more people are using it. Given that California legalized the use of marijuana and other cannabis products in 2021, there has been a significant increase in online ordering of cannabis products and services.

6.Growth of Cannabis Dispensaries

In California, there has been an increase in dispensaries and cannabis store fronts. This spike is concentrated among the following region:

• Bay Area-15%
• San Diego-12%
• Humboldt County-11%

As the larger cities like San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles are growing quicker, the peripheral areas are catching up. This is clear because more dispensaries have opened in these areas. In many cases, a city or county will allow for: one dispensary. This is to prevent over-saturation and regulation of the marijuana industry.

7.The Cannabis Industry is Offering More Jobs

In California, the cannabis industry has created thousands of jobs. In fact, in the first year after legalization, there were:

• 12,000 jobs created.
• 2,000 new establishments.
• 428,059 full-time equivalent jobs

This has been an enormous boom for the state economy. In fact, the cannabis industry was one of the state’s fastest-growing industries in 2017. Furthermore, there were 325,957 workers employed in the marijuana industry in 2022. This is only expected to increase as more and more Californians enter this industry.

8.Cannabis Industry is Boosting Small Business

With legalization of marijuana in California, there has been a surge in small businesses. Most small businesses are related to the cultivation and sale of cannabis products. These include:

• Cannabis farms-9%
• Marijuana dispensaries-15%
• Supply shops-8%

This has indicated a significant increase in small businesses in the marijuana industry. With more and more people entering this industry, the number of small businesses will continue to rise, as will the needs of new cannabis dispensaries.

9.Growth of Cannabis Consumption After the Pandemic

There is a surge in cannabis consumption after the Covid-19 pandemic. As people began to plan for their futures, they had to start planning for themselves and family’s futures. The distribution of usage is as follows:

• Residents-22%
• Out of state residents-11%
• Emergency responders-11%

In addition to this, there has been an increase in foreign tourists who consume cannabis. 3.2 million people will travel to California in 2022. This increased chance of exposure to the pandemic has increased the use of marijuana products in California.

Different people use cannabis for different reasons. These include:

• Relaxation
• Pain relief
• Arousal
• Meditation

This shows that more people are using cannabis for medicinal reasons and for relaxation and recreation. With these growing statistics, more people realize that there is a benefit to the use of marijuana. Furthermore, the legalization of marijuana brings the potential to make California a tourist hub related to marijuana usage. In this case, it may even lead to traveling and tourism in California.

In conclusion, The Bay Area California is one of the fastest growing U.S. states for legalizing cannabis products and services. Furthermore, there have been considerable increases in various statistics and growth related to the cannabis industry in California. These statistics show that the state has a bright future with the legalization of cannabis use, sales, and production.