DENVER (KDVR) — Denver lost its place as the nation's marijuana mecca, according to an analysis from Clever Real Estate. The new king of kush is Portland, Oregon.
Oregon was two years behind Colorado in legalizing recreational cannabis. Washington and Colorado legalized it in 2012, while Alaska and Oregon legalized it in 2014.
To be the nation's top hash hub, cities had to score highly in a handful of categories including legality, number of dispensaries and cannabis doctors, dispensaries' customer ratings, pot prices, Google search trends for marijuana-related terms, public perception and the number of hiking trails, concert venues, and – most importantly – Taco Bells.
Portland took the top spot mainly because Portland's pot is cheaper than other cities'. High-quality cannabis costs $210 per ounce in Portland as opposed to $242 in Denver. Portland also has more dispensaries per 100,000 residents - 13.7 to Denver's 11.5.
While no California cities are in the top five, they make several appearances among the top 15. The state scored particularly high for public perception of weed friendliness.
Where is the worst place for stoners? Birmingham, Alabama, according to Clever's analysis. Apparently 1 in 4 people surveyed put Birmingham at the bottom as worst weed city.
The top 15 cities for weed, according to Clever, are:
- Portland, Oregon
- Denver, Colorado
- Buffalo, New York
- Seattle, Washington
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Sacramento, California
- San Diego, California
- Los Angeles, California
- San Francisco, California
- Boston, Massachusetts
- San Jose, California
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Detroit, Michigan
- Hartford, Connecticut
See the chart below for a full comparison of the nation's top five cities.
| Category | Portland, OR | Denver, CO | Buffalo, NY | Seattle, WA | Baltimore, MD |
| Legal status | Fully | Fully | Fully | Fully | Fully |
| Cannabis doctors per 100,000 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Dispensaries per 100,000 | 13.7 | 11.5 | 3 | 4.8 | 2.4 |
| Avg. dispensary rating | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Avg. price, high quality | $210 | $242 | $270 | $248 | $330 |
| Avg. price, mid-quality | $187 | $210 | $226 | $201 | $258 |
| High-quality oz. per salary | 298 | 289 | 207 | 324 | 202 |
| Mid-quality oz. per salary | 335 | 332 | 247 | 400 | 259 |
| Leafly visitors | 72 | 35 | 61 | 36 | 45 |
| Pot passion | 68 | 74 | 90 | 80 | 94 |
| Head shops per 100,000 | 1 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Taco Bells per 100,000 | 11.2 | 11 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 3.2 |
| Trails | 209 | 72 | 25 | 85 | 23 |
| Music venues | 105 | 136 | 56 | 116 | 73 |
| Public perception score | 9% | 27% | 4% | 10% | 4% |
Nearly half of U.S. states have legalized recreational marijuana use, and even more have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. Just in the past six months, Rhode Island, New York and Connecticut have all kicked off legal sales. Maryland is preparing to allow adult use starting on July 1.
Only three states have no public-use marijuana program of any kind (neither medical or recreational) according to the National Conference of State Legislatures: Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska.
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