With more states legalizing marijuana use, most insurance carriers are taking the necessary steps to adjust their underwriting guidelines to qualify recreational and medical marijuana users for life insurance coverage.

AIPMA cannot speak for the carriers or their underwriting standards, but the statistics in the marijuana industry have shown growth among younger prospects, especially those looking for term or whole life insurance.

Here are some of the marijuana/cannabis statistics.

• 12% of Americans are active marijuana users, and 14% of adults use CBD products.
• Of users age 26 and older, 13.3% have used in the past year, and 8.6% have used in the last month; for ages 18 to 25, 34.8% have used in the past year and 22.1% in the last month.
• The gender gap between marijuana users has almost evened up; in 2018, 62% of men and 38% of women used marijuana, while in 2020, it was 52% of men and 48% of women.
• You also can see some of the trends by generation for recreational and medical usage
  • Gen Z – 17% Medical, 17% Recreational (127% sales growth from 2019 to 2020)
  • Millennials – 42% Medical, 48% Recreational
  • Gen X – 23% Medical, 21% Recreational
  • Boomers – 17% Medical, 13% Recreational (5% sales growth from 2019 to 2020)
  • Silent Gen – 1% Medical, 1% Recreational
• Nationwide cannabis sales increased 67% in 2020 – this growth is attributed to the pandemic.
• As of January 2021, 12 states have legalized the use of recreational cannabis (in addition to medical marijuana) for individuals over age 21: California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Vermont, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Arizona (plus the District of Columbia).

Now that you have the numbers, how can you target what carriers have a life insurance product for your marijuana-using clients? AIP Marketing Alliance has made it simple with our Marijuana Guidelines Chart!

In this document, you can choose from more than 15 different carriers who have specific usage/factors and rates for medical and recreational marijuana users.

If you would like this document, please contact AIPMA’s Business Development team at (800) 783-5206 Press #2 or email marketing@aipma.com.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational use only. It does not condone or approve marijuana usage.

Statistics provided by FlowHub.