The next mega-industry in the U.S. could very well be marijuana.
As Business Insider reports, a new report from New Frontier Data projects the legal weed market will create more than a quarter of a million jobs by 2020.
In 2016, eight states voted to legalize pot in some form, bringing the total number of states with comprehensive medical marijuana laws to 28 and as more people opt for the safety, convenience and variety that legal dispensaries offer over the black market, the industry’s job growth could explode.
According to Marijuana Business Daily, legal marijuana businesses employed an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 workers in January.
New Frontier’s projections were based on the assumption that every state will have a medical and adult-use market by 2020, which depends greatly on whether President Donald Trump stands by his vow to support states’ rights to legislate their own marijuana policy, despite recent warnings of a crackdown.
The legal marijuana market is expected to exceed $24.5 billion by 2025, based on states that passed some sort of legalization before this year.