Philadelphia is among the top cities on the planet for marijuana consumption, study says

Philadelphia is among the largest cannabis-consuming cities on the planet, according to one new study.

On average, Philadelphians in total consume about 10.6 metric tons — or about 23,369 pounds — of marijuana a year, making Philly the 15th-highest cannabis-using location of 140 surveyed cities worldwide, the 2023 Cannabis Global Price Index found. Compiled by the health information group CFAH, the study used data collected by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to create the rankings.

Still, Philadelphia’s marijuana consumption pales in comparison to New York City, which topped the list at 62.3 metric tons, or 137,348 pounds, per year. That’s about 7 grams per year for each resident (compared to about 6.73 grams for Philly residents) in a city whose home state voted to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2021. But given that the study ranked cities by total consumption, it makes sense that populous cities would rank highly.

Philly’s home state of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, has had a medical marijuana program since 2016, with more than 1 million registered patients. The Keystone State, however, has come up short on full legalization.

That may soon change. Last month, five state senators introduced bipartisan legislation that would legalize the recreational use of cannabis for Pennsylvanians 21 and older. And in March, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget plan proposed a 20% tax on the wholesale price of marijuana products on the legal market, estimating that such a tax would bring in $188 million by the end of the decade if instituted by 2025.

The lack of advancement on marijuana legalization has made Pennsylvania something of a prohibition island on the East Coast. Neighboring states New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and New York have all voted for full legalization, putting them on the list of 23 states nationwide (plus Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories) with recreational marijuana programs.

In addition to Philadelphia’s high cannabis consumption rate, the city also had some of the most expensive cannabis in the United States, the study found. At $11.30 per gram on average, weed in Philadelphia is reportedly the 10th-most-expensive in the country among cities studied. The most expensive is in Washington. ($19.10 per gram), and the least in Portland, Ore. ($7 per gram).

The cheapest cannabis on the planet, according to the study, can be found in Montreal, where a gram goes for about $5.90 on average, according to the study (Canada legalized marijuana nationwide in 2018). Tokyo, where marijuana is illegal nationwide, had the highest-priced weed of any city studied, at $33.80 per gram on average.

But it’s unlikely that marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania would immediately bring low prices. New Jersey, for example, is more than a year into its adult-use program and averages about $17 per gram, The Inquirer found in April.

Typically, marijuana prices in new legal markets start out high and drop as the market matures thanks to an increase in cannabis growers, and therefore, larger supply. Sometimes, though, supply can far outweigh demand and lead to a crash in the market, as seen in states such as Colorado, California, and Oregon.

Overall, however, the study found that marijuana prices nationwide are likely to decrease over the years. By 2030, it said, average marijuana prices in the United States could fall to $5.61 per gram.