Many marijuana advocates love to discuss the many ways marijuana legalization would benefit the United States economically if it were to occur. But it turns out that the benefits could be even greater than previously thought.

A new study from New Frontier Data says marijuana legalization in the United States could be extremely lucrative. According to their data, they say that if all 50 U.S. states were to legalize marijuana, the industry would create an estimated one million jobs for the country. They also estimate that doing so would generate $131.8 billion in tax revenue between 2017 and 2025, assuming a 15 percent retail sales tax, payroll tax deductions and business tax revenue.

The economic reasons for legalizing marijuana are pretty overwhelming, and you almost have to wonder if the legalization community should begin focusing on them. While promoting the medical benefits of cannabis is worthwhile, many Americans don't particularly care about an issue unless it involves their wallets. As James Carville once said, "It's the economy, stupid!"

Perhaps as more states legalize marijuana and the country realizes just how big the economic impact of cannabis can be, they'll begin to change their minds. Until then, we'll just have to hope more states continue pursuing rational policies.

(h/t Washington Post)