Legal cannabis dispensaries have been the target of unfair stigma since they first started to pop up in legal markets in the United States. Such establishments are often subjected to ‘not in my backyard’ efforts, and in some legal jurisdictions, dispensaries are still prohibited.
Thankfully, that is becoming less frequently the case as time goes by, and dispensaries prove to be great additions to communities. A recent study highlighted how legal cannabis dispensaries provide an economic boost to surrounding businesses.
A team of researchers affiliated with City University of NY, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Miami analyzed economic data in areas where legal cannabis dispensaries were located. The study’s findings were published in the research database SSRN, as originally reported by Marijuana Moment.
For the study, the researchers used “staggered recreational dispensary openings in Illinois between 2021 and 2024, combining administrative dispensary records with monthly measures of customers, transactions, and revenue at nearby establishments.”
“Using a difference-indifferences design, we find that recreational dispensary openings increase the number of customers at nearby establishments by approximately 6.82%, transactions by 8.01%, and revenue by 7.47%. These gains come mainly through the extensive margin (customer traffic) rather than the intensive margin (purchasing frequency): customers and transactions increase, while revenue per customer and revenue per transaction remain unchanged.” the researchers found.
“The effects are also heterogeneous and vary across establishments: food and beverage businesses and essential retailers experience significant gains, whereas non-essential retailers show no significant change.” the researchers added. “Additional analyses indicate that the spillovers are stronger in more walkable neighborhoods and smaller for establishments with more local customer bases, while the positive revenue effects are concentrated on weekends.”
“Overall, these findings suggest that dispensary openings can create localized demand opportunities for nearby businesses. And more broadly, the value generated by retail entry depends not only on the entrant’s ability to attract customers but also on how surrounding businesses respond to the resulting customer flows.” the researchers concluded.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) previously published a report highlighting that total tax revenue from legal adult-use cannabis sales in the United States surpassed $28 billion. The first legal adult-use cannabis transaction occurred at the start of 2014 in Colorado, followed by sales launching in Washington State in mid-2014.
“States have generated a combined total of more than $28.4 billion in tax revenue from legal adult-use cannabis sales since the first markets launched in Colorado and Washington in 2014, according to a comprehensive new state-by-state report published by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). ” MPP wrote in a press release.
“In 2025 alone, legalization states collectively generated more than $4.57 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year. Further, seven states collected over $200 million in adult-use cannabis taxes. Three of those states — California, Illinois, and Michigan — generated over $500 million in revenue, one of which (California) collected over $1 billion.” MPP added.
The legal cannabis industry in the United States currently supports 412,500 full-time jobs, according to the 2026 U.S. Cannabis Jobs Report. The report was created by cannabis industry hiring and staffing platform Vangst in collaboration with global business and economic consulting firm Whitney Economics. Cannabis industry revenue in the United States is expected to top $30 billion in 2026, according to Whitney Economics.
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