Cannabis sales reach 10 billion $ in North America in 2017

According to the latest ArcView report, the leading cannabis research and investment group, retail cannabis sales will increase by 33% over 2016 and reach $10 billion for 2017 in North America.

The study also notes that 2018 is likely to see these figures soar due to the forthcoming legalization of cannabis.

«Apart from cryptocurrencies, there is no other industry that is changing as quickly or as unevenly as the cannabis sector,» said Troy Dayton, CEO of ArcView.

Canada will legalize cannabis in July 2018 and will become the second country in the world after Uruguay in 2013, and the first in the G7, to regulate cannabis sales in this way.

In the United States, all eyes will be on Nevada, which broke all records when it opened its adult-use cannabis market, with 27 million in the first month, then 33 the second. The market should become more structured by now, and thus expand towards the many tourists who come to visit the region. Sin City.

However, the main contributor to growth in the US market should be California which will open up recreational cannabis sales on January 1, 2018. The current medical cannabis market in California is as big as the Colorado, Oregon and Washington markets combined. The addition of a recreational market should push sales figures higher.

By 2021, ArcView estimates that legal cannabis sales will reach $24.5 billion in North America. This figure is based on current market projections and could significantly underestimate the overall growth of the cannabis market. New U.S. states may join those that have already legalized cannabis, or cannabis may simply be legalized at the federal level. Whatever the case, the European market seems very small compared to the North American ogre.