Researchers at Texas Tech University have found that states who legalize marijuana see more jobs in agriculture than they would without the policy change.
The results, which were presented at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s 2026 meeting last month, found a 9 percent uptick in agriculture sector employment in states that legalized cannabis—though wages did not increase proportionately due to factors that researchers determined are likely unrelated.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages’ (BLS) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data between 1990 and 2024 was used to examine the relationship between legal marijuana and specific industry-specific economic trends.
Applying a synthetic difference-in-difference (SDID) estimator, the researchers assessed “both aggregate and cohort-specific average treatment effects” on the target jurisdictions.
The policy increased employment in agriculture.
According to the study, “Our baseline findings indicate that legalization significantly increased agriculture employment by approximately 9 per cent, but had no statistically significant impact on agricultural wages, employment in all industries, or overall wages.”
The baseline SDID estimates show that the policy was successful in its primary goal of increasing agricultural employment. The treated counties experienced an increase of approximately 9 percent relative to the synthetic contrafactual. The employment growth did not translate into changes in agricultural wages or employment rates across industries.
Researchers say the “null response” in wages to legalization is not related to cannabis policy. This was at odds with “significant employment growth,” which they noted. This is “consistent with a flexible labor supply in agriculture, where the increased demand for agricultural products was absorbed via greater workforce involvement rather than upward pressure to wages.”
The study’s authors suggested that policymakers should take into account the local labor market conditions and the timing of adoption when planning similar interventions. This is because the effectiveness of a policy can vary greatly across cohorts.
Cannabis has a close relationship with agriculture. However, legalization is having a variety of economic impacts. According to the U.S. Cannabis Job Report by Vangst and Whitney Economics, the number of direct jobs in marijuana markets will reach 412,500 U.S. employees as early as 2026.
Meanwhile, legalizing medical marijuana appears to be associated with reduced rates of employees missing work—particularly in trades like manufacturing and agriculture where workers are more likely to experience symptoms such as pain that cannabis can help treat—according to a recent study.
Research published last year on marijuana legalization’s effect on workers’ compensation found that while the policy change was associated with a “gradual increase” in workers’ comp claims, the average cost per claim in fact fell after the policy change—as did patient use of prescription drugs, especially opioids and other painkillers.
In 2021, a separate study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that adult-use cannabis legalization was associated with an increase in workforce productivity and decrease in workplace injuries.
These researchers examined the impact that recreational cannabis legalization had on workers compensation claims filed by older adults. They noted a decrease in these filings, “both as a result of the tendency to receive benefits or the benefit amount,” in states which have implemented the policy change.
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