As more and more US states legalize cannabis use, Americans spent more money on marijuana last year than they did on chocolate.

A new report from MJBiz, a business news outlet for professionals in the recreational and medical cannabis industry, says sales of the psychoactive drug will surpass sales of chocolate in 2022. By 2023, MJBiz predicts that cannabis sales will exceed the amount of money spent in the US on craft beer, chocolate and chicken eggs combined.

The same report predicts that marijuana sales will top $33.5 billion this year, up $4 billion from 2022. By 2028, industry sales will reach $57 billion.

MJBiz reports that the number of licensed marijuana businesses in the US will exceed 165,000 this year.

In terms of overall economic impact, the marijuana industry contributed $90 billion to the US economy last year. This year the market will reach $100.8 billion, and by 2028 it will exceed $170 billion.

Accidents and sales at gas stations

Against the background of the above, licensed sale of marijuana in gasoline retail stores in Florida is also expected. Last year, Circle K, a global chain of stores and gas stations, which also has a European branch, signed an agreement with Green Thumb Industries.

The partnership will begin this year and will initially roll out to 10 of the company’s 600 outlets in the state, Green Thumb said. “This could help marijuana become more popular,” says Bloomberg Business.

However, recreational cannabis use has already increased traffic deaths by 10% in four US states, according to a University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) study. The study looked at death certificate data and compared mortality rates between states that legalized recreational cannabis use and states that only allowed access to medical cannabis use.

The researchers found a significant increase in traffic deaths in four of the seven states in the study that have legalized recreational cannabis use.

According to UIC Today, on average, recreational cannabis use was associated with a 10 percent increase in road traffic deaths.

According to Bloomberg, CNN