Michigan and Nevada are among the U.S. states most likely to legalize pot by 2017 — while Texas and Indiana are among the least likely states, according to a new report by consulting firm Anderson Economic Group.
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The 270-page Market for Legal Cannabis Products in the 50 United States report is meant to estimate the market demand for legal marijuana across the U.S.
The report spotlights seven states that are the most likely to legalize cannabis by 2017: Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Rhode Island and Vermont. The report also highlights six U.S. states as the least likely to legalize pot by 2017: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.
“With dramatic changes in both public opinion and the legal landscape regarding marijuana,” the report’s extract reads, “it is clear that future consumption of marijuana in the U.S. will be under a much different legal regime than in the past. While we do not yet know what this would imply for both state and federal laws, we believe a serious effort to review the available data with numerous indicators could provide us with much better information than what was available in the past.”
Some other fun facts from the report’s findings:
The state with the largest potential market for legal marijuana: California.
The state with the smallest potential market for legal weed: Wyoming.
Three states among the Top 10 largest potential markets for legal pot: Michigan, Illinois and Ohio.
“This was no small task, but we believe our state-by-state approach provides readers with the best picture of the market for state-sanctioned cannabis products in the United States,” Supported Intelligence COO Jeff Johnson said in press materials. Supported Intelligence is an analytics firm that helped out on the report.
Added Patrick L. Anderson, Anderson Economic Group’s CEO: “American opinions about marijuana are changing and it’s time that voters and investors have a sober and realistic look at the potential market for these products in each state.”
