Can You Guess the States With the Highest Medical Cannabis Usage?

If you had to guess the states with the highest medical cannabis consumption rates, what would be your guesses? Most people would likely think of California, Washington, and Colorado. But all three would be wrong based on official numbers through November of 2024.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, Florida and Oklahoma top the list of medical cannabis states. California and Washington could still have higher rates, but neither state requires tracking or reporting. So the numbers for those two states are vastly underreported. Take California and Washington out of the equation and the top two states are the Sunshine State and the Sooner State.

Florida Wins on Users

Ranking the states by sheer volume gives the #1 slot to Florida. As of late 2024, the Sunshine State led all reporting states with more than 890k registered medical cannabis users. That is a pretty large number until you compare it to population numbers. The number only represents 3.8% of the total population.

Still, 890k is a lot of people for such a conservative state. Could their high volume of cannabis consumption be due to more seniors living in the state than elsewhere? After all, seniors do tend to have more medical issues. They could contribute to the numbers significantly.

Oklahoma Wins on Population Percentage

The Marijuana Policy Project numbers allow for ranking states by population percentage. Do that and Florida falls to second place. The Sunshine State is topped by Oklahoma, with a staggering rate of 8.31%. That is incredible.

Oklahoma’s population is just over 4 million. But at the start of December 2024, the state boasted more than 340k registered medical cannabis users. There could be any number of reasons explaining such a high rate. One possibility is that Oklahoma law generally does not restrict the number of medical cannabis pharmacies within the state.

There are literally thousands of cannabis pharmacies in Oklahoma for this very reason. That means easy accessibility virtually anywhere in the state. And with accessibility, one could expect more people to apply for medical cannabis cards.

A Good Balance in Utah

Lending credence to the accessibility theory is Utah’s medical cannabis market. Their numbers at the start of December 2024 were 91,749 and 2.62%. Their total numbers and population rate are respectable. What makes Utah so different from both Florida and Oklahoma are state restrictions on the number of available pharmacies.

Beehive Farmacy operates two medical cannabis dispensaries in the state. One is in Brigham City and the other in Salt Lake City. Company representatives say that state law only allows for 15 pharmacy licenses to serve the entire population.

Most of the medical cannabis pharmacies in Utah are located in urban centers. Just one dispensary is in a rural location. Given how rural the state is, it seems that large geographic regions are left out of the loop. Medical cannabis patients in the farthest reaches of the state could drive for an hour or more just to find a pharmacy. I could see that as being discouraging for people who could benefit from medical cannabis but choose not to apply.

Millions Across the Country

When you add up all the numbers from the reporting states, District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories with legalized medical cannabis, you get just over 3.6 million patients. Yes, you read that correctly. There are now millions of people across the country who use medical cannabis on a regular basis. Whether or not that is good Is for you to decide for yourself. I am just reporting the numbers.