Cannabis has come a long way since the 1990s, when the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program was implemented in three out of four American schools, teaching children that marijuana was a gateway to hard drug addiction, when DARE administrator Robert C. Bonner called cannabis a “corruptive influence” on American youth, and when only 5 percent of the U.S. population used cannabis (compared to 15 percent three decades later, in 2023).
In the 1990s, less than one-third of American citizens supported the legalization of cannabis, even for medical rather than recreational use. By last year, that percentage had risen to 70 percent. Today, cannabis is legal in 39 out of 50 states for medical use and in 24 states —nearly half the union—for recreational use. But while recreational marijuana remains illegal in half the states, a 2024 report on cannabis industry statistics from Flowhub reveals that 79% of Americans now live in a county that has at least one cannabis dispensary.
Changing Attitudes
In recent years, celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg has boasted about smoking a joint at the White House, and pop star Lady Gaga has shared openly how cannabis has helped her manage chronic pain. Actor Seth Rogen has told a similar story of managing pain with cannabis, and actress Jennifer Lawrence has said in interviews that she used to smoke marijuana with her co-stars from The Hunger Games films after movie premieres.
Surveyed about cannabis, Americans today echo the sentiments of their celebrities. Only 26 percent see cannabis as a “very harmful” substance, a lower percentage than those who see alcohol (33 percent) or cigarettes (79 percent) as “very harmful.” Yet, alcohol and cigarettes have been legal since the end of Prohibition.
A Blossoming Industry
While public views have been shifting, the cannabis industry has been growing swiftly, adding $115.3 billion to the U.S. economy in 2024 and producing $20 billion in tax revenue—double the tax revenue generated by the alcohol industry, according to Flowhub. American cannabis producers like Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc., Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., Trulieve Cannabis Corp., and Green Thumb Industries have grown into economic powerhouses.
Green Thumb Industries, which owns the brands RYTHM Premium Cannabis and Incredibles, has been working with celebrities and the food industry to integrate THC into public marketplaces and social life. Such partnerships have produced THC-infused chocolate bars at Magnolia Bakery in New York, a RYTHM annual music festival, and the creation of special strains of cannabis sponsored by specific musicians, such as Tinashe, State Champs, Marcus King, and Mitchell Tenpenny.
Green Thumb’s products also include the luxury brand Beboe, the brainchild of Scott Campbell, founder of Saved Tattoo Studio. Campbell has sought to reduce the lingering stigma around cannabis use, aiming to make it as socially accepted as alcohol and to provide cannabis products that resemble a bottle of upscale wine. Campbell’s brand specifically targets women, who, in 2023, outpaced men in cannabis use for the first time. Today, one in three women over age 21 use cannabis either medically or recreationally.
Not Just for the Young Kids
Perhaps the most surprising outcome of the shifting American view of cannabis is that THC use is rising among the very generations that were previously most opposed to it. Over half of Baby Boomers aged 60–64 now use cannabis, and in the ten years between 2009 and 2019, cannabis use tripled (from 11 to 32 percent) among American adults over 65.
It is possible that the growing acceptance of cannabis, especially among retired adults, has been partly due to increased public awareness of its medicinal uses. While celebrities like Lady Gaga have opened up about their battles with chronic pain, over half of adults who have treated chronic pain with cannabis report that cannabis use led them to reduce their use of over-the-counter and prescription opioid pain medications. With rising concern from the public and legislators over opioid use, more people now perceive cannabis as an attractive and safe alternative to traditional pain medications.
In any case, the genie is out of the bottle, and for the cannabis industry, business is booming.
