US Legal Marijuana Sales Surpassed $20 Billion in 2023

Across the US legal marijuana states combined to sell over $20 billion worth of marijuana and marijuana products.

According to an analysis by The Marijuana Herald of the most up-to-date data that is currently available via state agencies and cannabis commissions, there was $20.7 billion worth of marijuana sold in 2023. Sales numbers include the legal distribution of dried marijuana flower and marijuana concentrates, as well as a variety of other marijuana products including edibles, tinctures and topicals.

For the majority of the states included in our analysis sales data was available for all of 2023. However, for a few states data was only available through the end of October or November. For these states we estimated marijuana sales totals for November and December using data from prior months and by analyzing sales trends and patterns for each state.

States that have legalized only medical marijuana were not included. However, some of the data included for the states listed below includes both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana sales.

Here are the states contributing the the $20 billion in sales, along with their estimated sales total for 2023:

California

$4.2 billion

Michigan

$3.1 billion

Illinois

$1.9 billion

Massachusetts

$1.5 billion

Colorado

$1.5 billion

Missouri

$1.3 billion

Arizona

$1 billion

Oregon

$950 million

Washington

$850 million

Nevada

$600 million

New Mexico

$550 million

Maryland

$780 million

New Jersey

$480 million

Montana

$320 million

Connecticut

$275 million

Maine

$215 million

Alaska

$150 million

New York

$120 million

Rhode Island

$100 million

Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. In the years since, 22 other states have passed similar laws, although not all of them currently have licensed marijuana stores. For example, both Minnesota and Ohio legalized marijuana in 2023, with stores expected to open either later this year or in 2025.

For a look at the six states most likely to legalize marijuana in 2024, click here.

[Editor’s note: States that have legalized only medical marijuana were not included in our analysis. However, some of the data included for the states listed above include both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana sales.]