A new, nation-wide survey suggests millions of Americans would grow marijuana at home – if it was legal. According to a new survey an estimated 44.5 million adults[1] would ‘grow your own’ for personal use if growing cannabis was legalized- gardeners and non-gardeners alike. And that number increased from 10% of adults in 2015 to 18% in 2016. The age group most likely to grow their own if legal is millennials, 18-34 years old (26%).

“A year or two of research doesn’t establish a trend yet, but the jump in these numbers is pretty significant,” says industry analyst Bruce Butterfield. “The largest number of adults most likely to grow marijuana themselves is 18 to 34 year olds, followed by baby boomers aged 55+.”

The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll in January of this year and commissioned by Green State Gardener, a national, e-commerce company that helps growers of medicinal herbs by selling virtually all the equipment they need to succeed. A flagship Green State Gardener store will open in June in Burlington, VT.

“We now have two years of survey results that show a growing number of gardeners and non-gardeners wanting to grow at home,” says Butterfield. “So this survey confirms what we saw the year before.”

Among other findings this year’s survey shows:

59-percent of adults think medicinal use of marijuana should be legalized

44-percent of gardeners and 39-percent of non-gardeners think possession of small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized

Of the total number of gardeners that would grow their own if legal, 40% are millennials followed closely by boomers aged 55+ at 35%

Millennial’s interest in ‘grow your own’ if legal increased from 14% in 2015 to 26% in 2016

Will Raap, a leading VT advocate of legalizing marijuana for medicinal and adult use and the co-founder of Green State Gardener notes that nearly six in ten adults surveyed think medical marijuana should be legalized. “It’s an amazing plant that has been vilified since prohibition in the 1930’s and legalization of medical marijuana makes it clear we have only begun to understand its value.”

24 states have legalized medical marijuana and Raap believes that the value of cannabis for medicinal use is driving the hefty increase in interest in growing marijuana at home.

“We’re also seeing feedback from states and countries that have legalized adult-use cannabis and the world has not collapsed,” says Raap.

Source: Green State Gardener is an intensive, indoor and small space gardening, and DIY lifestyle brand company targeting younger and urban gardeners. We empower our customers to grow, process and use their own plant-based medicines by providing the best tools, materials, kits, and expert advice. When we partner with and learn from nature, we all win.

For more information, contact Kelsy Raap at Kelsy@greenstategardener.com

Survey methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Green State Gardener from January 28-February 1, 2016 among 2077 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Bruce Butterfield, BruceB@gardenresearch.com