Legalization of marijuana in Oregon has created at least 2,165 jobs and will add more as the market matures, a new report suggests.

Nearly $46 million in payroll will be paid to retail cannabis employees statewide in 2016, according to the “Oregon Cannabis Jobs Report,” sponsored by cannabis industry consulting firms New Economy Consulting and Whitney Economics.

By comparison, Oregon’s beer, wine and liquor sector employed 1,450 people and paid $28 million in wages in 2015, according to Employment Department data.

The department estimates there are nearly 2,500 dispensary employees statewide.

But the industry report delves beyond employment numbers and into potential effects of the cannabis industry. It concludes the market is “much stronger” than previously thought.

The total economic impact of paying cannabis workers could be in the hundreds of millions, said Beau Whitney, one of four authors of the report. As cannabis workers spend their wages, they cause an economic “ripple effect,” he said. [Read more at the Salem Statesman Journal]