Eight in ten Americans now live in a county with at least one marijuana dispensary, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. The analysis also shows that high concentrations of retailers often “cluster” near borders abutting other states that have “less permissive cannabis laws”—indicating that there’s a large market of people who live in still-criminalized jurisdictions who cross state lines to purchase regulated products.
With cannabis still federally illegal, the report underscores the glaring policy disconnect as the number of states that have enacted legalization continues to grow.
Using data from the market research firm SafeGraph and the U.S. Census Bureau, Pew found that 79 percent of Americans live in a county with at least one medical or adult-use marijuana dispensary.
Since Ohio became the latest state to enact legalization last November, 54 percent of the U.S. population resides in a state where recreational cannabis is permitted, Pew said. And 74 percent now live in a state where marijuana is legal for either medical or adult-use purposes.
California stands out among other legal states, with 3,659 dispensaries—”more than double the amount in the next-closest state.” An entire quarter of all cannabis shops in the U.S. are located