Washington, Apr 20 (EFE).– Legal marijuana sales in the United States totaled nearly $5.7 billion in 2015, while more than 100,000 jobs are being created annually in that industry’s medicinal and recreational segments, according to a study released Wednesday.

Four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) – in addition to the District of Columbia, where the U.S. capital is located – currently allow the recreational use of marijuana, while 23 others permit the use of the drug for medicinal purposes.

Based on a new study by marijuana investment and analysis companies New Frontier and ArcView, combined sales for the two segments rose to $5.7 billion last year, up from $4.6 billion in 2014.

At the current rate, the market is expected to grow to $22.8 billion by 2020, with the recreational and medicinal segments each projected to account for roughly half of the total that year.

Marijuana sales for recreational use tripled last year, rising from $374 million to $1.2 billion, a result of rising popularity in the states where cannabis has been legalized.

The report noted that marijuana sales could be given a further boost in 2016 considering that several states, including California, Massachusetts and Nevada, will vote on whether to allow adult recreational use.

Gallup said last October that its most recent poll on the subject showed that the percentage of people favoring marijuana legalization had risen to 58 percent, up from just 48 percent in 2012. EFE