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Analysis: Adult-Use Cannabis Sales Generated Nearly $4 Billion in Tax Revenues in 2021

Washington, DC: Tax revenues derived from the licensed retail sale of state-legal, adult-use cannabis products grew by more than 30 percent between 2020 and 2021, totaling over $3.7 billion last year - according to an analysis provided by the Marijuana Policy Project.

MPP's figures do not include revenues derived from the sales of medical cannabis products and/or the collection of state-imposed regulatory fees.

Toi Hutchinson, president of MPP, said that the data provides "further evidence that ending cannabis prohibition offers tremendous financial benefits for state governments."

Adult-use sales generated the greatest amount of revenue in California ($1.3 billion), followed by Washington, Illinois, and Colorado.

Since 2014, retail sales of adult-use cannabis products have generated $11.2 billion dollars.

Full text of the report, "Cannabis Tax Revenues in States That Regulate Cannabis for Adult Use," is available online.

Study: Pain Patients Dramatically Reduce Opioid Intake Following Use of Various Cannabis Preparations

Potsdam, Germany: Chronic pain patients provided with cannabis-based interventions significantly reduce their daily intake of prescription opioids, according to longitudinal data published in the German medical journal Schmerz.

A team of German investigators assessed opioid use trends in a cohort of 178 chronic pain patients who were provided with either whole-plant cannabis extracts, nabiximols (a cannabis plant-derived oromucosal spray), or dronabinol (synthetic THC capsules) for an average period of 366 days. The majority of participants in the trial (65 percent) were older than 65 years of age.

Consistent with dozens of prior studies, patients significantly reduced their daily opioid intake over the course of the trial.

Investigators failed to identify any significant side effects due to the cannabis-based interventions.

Authors reported: "Patients daily opioid dosages were "significantly reduced in course of time by ... 50 percent. This reduction was independent on CAM [medical cannabinoids] dosage, age and gender."

They concluded: "Patients with chronic pain profit from long-term CAM which safely and significantly lower the consumption of co-medicated opioids, even at low dosages. ... Older patients benefit from CAM, and adverse effects do not limit the (chronic) use and prescription of CAM in the elderly."

Those who consume cannabis medicinally are most likely to report doing so to address chronic pain symptoms. Studies further report that pain patients typically reduce or eliminate their use of opioids following their initiation of cannabis therapy.

Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids reduce opioid use in older patients with pain: A retrospective three-year analysis of data from a general practice," appears in Schmerz.

Poll: Over Half of US Adults Have Tried Cannabis

Washington, DC: More than half of Americans ages 18 and older acknowledge having consumed cannabis, according to nationwide survey data provided by YouGov.com.

Fifty-two percent of respondents admitted having tried marijuana during their lifetimes, including 63 percent of those between the ages of 45 and 64.

By contrast, those respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 years old were among those least likely to report having had prior experience with cannabis (37 percent).

Consistent with prior surveys, smoking was the most common way adults consumed cannabis.

Two-thirds of those with a history of cannabis use said that their experiences were "very or somewhat positive."

The data is consistent with 2021 survey data provided by Gallup reporting that an estimated 50 percent of US adults have consumed cannabis at some point in their lives.

Additional polling information is available from YouGov.com.

Study: Adult-Use Marijuana Laws Associated with Reduction in Foster Care Admissions

Oxford, MS: Adult-use marijuana legalization laws are correlated with a reduction in foster care placements, according to data published in the journal Economic Inquiry.

A pair of economists with the University of Mississippi assessed foster care admission trends in states pre and post-legalization.

Authors reported: "Legalization may impact foster-care admissions directly by changing the welfare of children or indirectly by changing policies and attitudes towards marijuana use in the home. Direct effects may arise because marijuana use itself causes behaviors that affect child welfare, or because it changes the likelihood of using other drugs."

They added, "We also find that placements due to physical abuse, parental neglect, and parental incarceration decrease after legalization, providing evidence that legalization reduces substantive threats to child welfare, although the precise mechanism behind these effects is unclear."

Authors concluded: "We estimate that legalization decreases foster-care placements by at least 10 percent, with larger effects in years after legalization, and for admissions for reasons of parental drug and alcohol abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and parental incarceration. Our findings imply that legalization may have important consequences for child welfare, and that substitution toward marijuana from other substances can be an important part of how legalization affects admissions."

Full text of the study, "Recreational marijuana legalization and admissions to the foster care system," appears in Economic Inquiry.

Survey: Most Oncology Trainees Say They're "Insufficiently Informed" About Cannabis

Boston, MA: The majority of oncologists in training acknowledge knowing little about the use of cannabis in cancer care treatment, according to national survey data published in the journal JCO Oncology Practice.

A team of researchers affiliated with Harvard Medical School surveyed 462 oncology trainees from 25 states. Consistent with prior surveys of health professionals, most respondents (76 percent) said that they had received no "formal training regarding medical cannabis." Most respondents also said that they "considered themselves insufficiently informed to make cannabis-related medical recommendations."

Cancer is a qualifying condition in every state where medical cannabis access is provided, and the use of synthetic THC has been FDA-approved as an anti-nausea agent and as an appetite stimulant for cancer patients for several decades.

Survey data finds that an estimated one-in-eight cancer patients consume cannabis for symptom management and that nearly ten percent of cancer survivors identify as current marijuana users.

Full text of the study, "Oncology fellows' clinical discussions, perceived knowledge, and formal training regarding medical cannabis use: A national survey study," appears in JCO Oncology Practice.