The legal sales of pot will reach $21.8 billion in 2020, up from $5.4 billion last year. The legalization of marijuana has and will spread rapidly from state to state.

The data from a new report titled “The State of Legal Marijuana Markets” explain that part of the forecast has as a foundation the sales in Colorado and Washington, where pot use for medical and recreational use is already legal. The research shows that the rise will be rapid year by year:

Demand is expected to remain strong in 2016 with legal markets projected to grow to $6.7 billion, a 24% increase over 2015

The huge majority of the rise in sales will be due to recreational use, which was only 8% of the market in 2014 but is anticipated to be 53% in 2020.

State legalization may be still expanding by the time a national law is passed to legalize marijuana use nationwide. This will leave states that have not supported legalization in a quandary. The report forecast:

Majority support for legalization is fueling a national policy shift The industry’s continued expansion was matched by equally strong growth in popular support for cannabis legalization nationally. According to Gallup, 58% of Americans now support legalization of cannabis for adult use, up from 36% in 2005; a separate poll by Harris found 81% of Americans support legalization for medical use.

More information is available from several stories published by 24/7 Wall St. These include:

• 11 States Most Likely to Legalize Marijuana
• 11 States Least Likely to Legalize Marijuana

And our weekly report on marijuana prices.

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