Legalized pot is driving up fast food sales, study finds

Legal marijuana users prefer to satisfy their munchies by eating at major food chains, suggests recent data.

A new study released by Green Market Report and Consumer Research Around Cannabis found that 43 percent of marijuana users residing in legalized states ate at a McDonald’s restaurant in the past four weeks, reports Bloomberg.

Around 27,500 participants were surveyed throughout the legal cities Denver, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Sacramento, and Portland, Oregon. 18 percent of those surveyed opted to eat at Taco Bell instead, while Wendy’s had the menu of choice for 17.8 percent of legal pot users.

Experts point out, however, that McDonald’s may have taken the top spot just by their massive amount of locations.

“McDonald’s wins by virtue of the sheer number of locations—by default really,” said Jeff Stein, vice president of Consumer Research Around Cannabis, in an interview with Newsweek. “Those competitors which better understanding cannabis users and their consumer habits can certainly close the gap by integrating what they learn through their marketing…