Cannabis Forecast Sees Adult-Use Market Bogarting Sales from Medical

A new study released Research and Markets predicts the growth of the adult-use market will eat into the North American medical markets, particularly affecting Canada.

Canadian adult-use sales are estimated to grow from $4 billion in 2021 to $7.6 billion in 2026. And the nation’s federal adult-use program is expected to flatten medical sales, causing sales to decrease by 11%, from $440 million to $379 million.

In 2021, the North American cannabis industry continued to grow, with New York, New Jersey, Virginia, New Mexico, Montana and Connecticut all enacting, amending or passing adult-use cannabis legislation. In the U.S., adult-use sales are estimated to reach $18.5 billion in 2022 and grow by 218% to US$58.8 billion by 2026.

While expanded adult-use legislation in the U.S. will steal away sales from the medical market, the report still estimates that medical-use sales will grow by 41.5% between 2022 and 2026, from $9.2 billion to $13.1 billion in the U.S.