What does the exponential growth of the US hemp market indicate?
State-legalized sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the U.S. in 2024 could reach $32 billion, surpassing beef sales. It is highly likely that within a few years, sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the country will exceed the sales volume of alcoholic beverages ($37.7 billion).
In the U.S., electronic and print media have been actively discussing over the past month that sales volumes of various hemp plant derivatives are significantly impacting the reduction of alcohol sales in the country. This information was not covered in the pages of the specialized electronic publication of national hemp growers solely because there was a desire to delve deeper into the issue and understand the nuances of the observed trend. Therefore, the information provided to us by representatives of one of the American information and analytical platforms, who compiled the sales chart below comparing hemp plant derivatives with other segments of the American retail market, will be more informative and illustrative.
Dynamics of Hemp Sales Compared to Alcohol Sales
According to data analyzed by representatives from Carnegie Mellon University over the last 40 years, daily or almost daily use of various hemp plant derivatives is now more common than a similar level of alcohol consumption in the U.S.
The report examines data from the U.S., collected from over 1.6 million participants in 27 surveys conducted from 1979 to 2022. It concludes that while alcohol consumption remains more widespread overall, in 2022, the use of various hemp components exceeded the frequency of alcohol consumption for the first time: approximately 17.7 million consumers of various hemp products compared to 14.7 million alcohol users.
This represents a 15-fold increase in the consumption of various hemp derivatives since 1992, when 900,000 Americans reported using the plant.
"We believe—and the data clearly shows—that the younger demographic group is increasingly using various hemp plant derivatives for daily and monthly consumption compared to other generations," says analyst Scott Fortune. "As there are signs that consumers are moving away from other types of products intended for pleasure (alcohol, tobacco), we think that as younger generations grow up with legislation regulating the use of the plant's relaxing properties, its use will become more widespread and replace traditional options," adds Mr. Fortune.
Market Volume of All Types of Hemp Products Sold in the U.S.
According to data published by one of the American information and analytical platforms specializing in analyzing information from U.S. markets that exploit various properties of the hemp plant, state-legalized sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the country in 2024 could reach $32 billion, surpassing beef sales. This would also mean higher sales than potato chips and movie box office receipts combined.
"Approximately 40% of current cannabis consumers use it daily or almost daily, and this pattern is more similar to tobacco use than to typical alcohol consumption," says Jonathan Caulkins, a cannabis policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.
Commentary by the Ukrainian Technical Hemp Association Specialists
If we combine the two trends in the U.S. retail market described above, it is highly likely that within a few years, sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the U.S. will exceed the sales volume of alcoholic beverages ($37.7 billion).
