Cannabis jobs doubled in Michigan in the year 2020, and the growth in sales continues to build stronger.
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US cannabis jobs report
Cannabis website Leafly released its 2021 jobs report this week, noting the United States added about 77,000 full-time jobs in the cannabis industry. Legal cannabis now supports 321,000 full-time jobs in America.
Leafly offered this perspective on how many jobs that is:
“In the United States there are more legal cannabis workers than electrical engineers. There are more legal cannabis workers than EMTs and paramedics. There are more than twice as many legal cannabis workers as dentists.”
Leafly says it creates these reports in partnership with labor economists at Whitney Economics, using publicly available sales data compiled by state cannabis regulatory agencies, as well as cannabis employee license data, median state salary statistics, and cannabis job salary surveys.
There is some very interesting data in here, such as consumer data showing who is spending the most on cannabis -- Generation X has the highest average monthly spend on cannabis:
Michigan cannabis jobs double
Recreational cannabis jobs now span 37 states. Michigan is among the top 10 in terms of the number of jobs, jobs added in 2020 and cannabis sales in 2020:
There are 18,078 legal cannabis jobs in Michigan -- 9,216 were added in 2020, a doubling. Cannabis sales in Michigan fell just shy of $1 billion in 2020 -- $989,642,000.
From Leafly’s report:
“Michigan doubled its legal cannabis workforce in a single year. There are now more cannabis workers than cops in Michigan. In a state known for its auto industry, the number of cannabis workers is now roughly equal to the number of auto repair mechanics. Michigan’s first adult-use marijuana stores opened in Dec. 2019, and that new customer base drove 2020 sales to more than double Michigan’s 2019 medical-only revenue, from $420 million to $990 million.”
This year: The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency’s January 2021 monthly report shows another $41 million in total cannabis sales just for that month alone. The same report from January 2020 showed $25 million in sales for that month.
Recreational cannabis now has been legal in Michigan since it was approved by voters in 2018. Legal sales began in late 2019, making 2020 the first full year of legal recreational cannabis sales in Michigan.
Medical cannabis has been a legal business in Michigan since voters approved it in 2008.
$10 million to 100 Michigan municipalities 💰
This week, 38 cities, seven villages, 21 townships and 38 counties began receiving payments from the Marihuana Regulation Fund (MRF) for every licensed retail store and microbusiness within its jurisdiction.
For the state’s 2020 fiscal year, this means each eligible municipality and county will receive around $28,000 for every licensed retail store or microbusiness, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Ann Arbor leads the pack as it receives a $476,022.44 payment from the MRF.
For the state of Michigan’s 2020 fiscal year, more than $31 million was collected from the 10% adult-use marijuana excise tax. Combined with fees, there was a total of $45.7 million available for distribution from the fund.
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