As more states make recreational and medicinal marijuana usage legal, some life insurance carriers are adjusting their underwriting guidelines to show a bit more flexibility for consumers who use these products.

Let’s talk about some 2024 marijuana/cannabis statistics from Flowhub.

• Adult-use cannabis is now legal in 24 states, with the United States cannabis industry expected to reach almost $40 billion in 2024.
• A Gallup poll found half of Americans have tried cannabis, with 1 in 6 Americans stating they smoke marijuana.
• A Harris poll found one-third of American women aged 21+ consume cannabis, with the top three reasons being to relieve anxiety (60%), help sleep (58%), and relieve pain (53%).
• Pew Research discovered 74% of Americans live in a county where cannabis is legal for either recreational or medical use.
• As of January 2024, 24 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have legalized recreational cannabis use for individuals age 21+: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. Delaware, Minnesota, and Ohio were added to the list of legal adult-use cannabis states in 2023.

There are almost 15,000 dispensaries in the U.S. (California has the most at 3,659), which shows how marijuana usage has become a growing trend, especially for younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials) – they comprise 62.8% of all U.S. cannabis sales and 70.8% of all Vapor Pen sales, according to data from Headset.

With the unofficial holiday of 4/20 coming this Saturday, AIP Marketing Alliance wants to remind independent insurance agents that AIPMA is contracted with multiple insurance carriers nationwide that show some flexibility when considering marijuana usage during the life insurance application process.

Our team has updated the AIPMA Marijuana Usage Chart, which breaks down carriers’ underwriting guidelines for medical/recreational use with rates based on usage and other factors (times per week/month, inhaled/edibles/vape, age).

Since AIPMA has sent this “smoking gun” out in this blog, we also want to remind you about our Cigar Smoking and Chewing Tobacco Chart. This document states classes, limits, and urinalysis results required for some carriers’ underwriting guidelines for consumers who partake in these products.

For the record, AIP Marketing Alliance is not endorsing the usage of any of these products. We are sharing these materials to help agents find life insurance products that may fit into their clients’ or prospects’ lifestyle choices. If you would like these charts, please contact AIPMA’s Business Development team at (800) 783-5206 Press #2 or marketing@aipma.com.