Pennsylvania added almost 4,000 marijuana jobs last year, study finds

Pennsylvania added nearly 4,000 legal marijuana-related jobs in 2018, according to a study done by cannabis information website Leafly.

It’s not easy to track the number of people employed by the marijuana industry. State and federal agencies do not track these numbers, according to Leafly’s study.

The study estimates job numbers based on cannabis sales figures and tax revenue.

Pennsylvania had the greatest percentage increase of marijuana-relatedjobs in the nation last year, according to the study.

The state’s first grower/processors and dispensaries opened in early 2018, prompting a hiring spree, according to Leafly. The study estimates there were about 90 employees in Pennsylvania’s marijuana industry at the end of 2017, and about 3,800 a year later.

Although Pennsylvania had the largest percentage increase, several states had a greater total number of added jobs, including Florida and Nevada.

There are more than 211,000 Americans legally employed in the marijuana industry nationwide, according to the study.

Medical marijuana is legal in 34 states, while recreational marijuana is legal in 10.

Here’s the study’s list of states with the fastest-growing marijuana industries.

• Florida: 9,068 new jobs in 2018/10,358 total jobs
• Nevada: 7,573 new /11,766 total
• Washington: 7,035 new/33,591 total
• Arizona: 5,120 new/11,370 total
• Colorado: 4,595 new/31,486 total
• Pennsylvania: 3,788 new/3,878 total
• New York: 3,725 new/5,067 total
• Maryland: 2,624 new/3,183 total
• Alaska: 2,268 new/2,810 total
• Oklahoma: 2,107 new/2,107 total
• New Jersey: 1,834 new/2,350 total
• Illinois: 1,668 new/3,020 total