As consumers increase their cannabis usage, in a variety of forms and in different aspects of their lives, the legal cannabis market is set to grow from $30 billion in 2020 to over $90 billion in 2025, according to global market research company Euromonitor International.

In the white paper “Breaking Stereotypes: Getting to Know the Cannabis Consumer” Euromonitor International explores six adult cannabis consumer archetypes making up the emerging legal cannabis consumer base in 2021: 
 
1. The Seasoned Consumer: Long time regular consumers who use cannabis to enhance their well-being. 24% of these consumers suffer from high or extreme stress while 64% are strongly in favor of recreational legalization.
 
2. The Casual Social: Younger, newer consumers leveraging cannabinoid products as part of their wider lifestyles. 75% of them take vitamins or health supplements at least monthly, while 61% are strongly in favor of recreational legalization.
 
3. The Dabbler: Occasional cannabis users, familiar and comfortable with the substance but unlikely to see it as a key part of their lifestyle. 68% are in favor of its legalization for medical use while 45% believe legal cannabis should be at least as widely available as tobacco and alcohol.
 
4. The Cannacurious: A broad consumer group with an interest in adult-use cannabis consumption if legalized in their countries but with limited knowledge about cannabinoid products. 56% are in favor of legalization for medical use, while only 43% support adult-use liberalization.
 
5. The Unsparked: Consumers who are outwardly negative towards cannabis use but express enough uncertainty that many could be persuaded to engage further. 18% of these consumers believe that cannabis is unsafe, while 8% see cannabis as something that enhances a user’s lifestyle (8%).
 
6. The Naysayer: Strongly against adult use—only 8% in favor of legalization­—they are not an immediate target for producers and brand owners. 51% state that they either have no or low levels of daily stress—the least stressed of all profiles.
 
“Cannabis user profiling is also relevant for cannabis-adjacent FMCG industries as more global consumers have access to cannabinoid-infused products. Cannabinoid consumers report drinking less alcohol, smoking less and taking fewer consumer health products across markets,” said Shane MacGuill, senior industry manager for Nicotine and Cannabis at Euromonitor International.