Marijuana sales have increased significantly over the past year in parts of the country where the recreational pot is legal, giving a boost to states that rely on tax revenues to bolster their pandemic-ridden coffers.
The majority of states that approve recreational marijuana reported either record sales or record tax levies in the past 12 months. This is a sign of a mature industry, attracting new customers and consumers who had little else to do during the coronavirus lockdown.
Each state with a legal marijuana regime collects and reports income data differently. Hill's analysis of data from four of these states shows a brief decline in sales in the weeks following the first lockdown orders in May and April, but an increase afterwards.
In Colorado, monthly recreational and medical marijuana sales rose to a record $ 226 million in July. This is the highest figure the state has seen since voters approved the recreational sale in a 2012 election.
Throughout 2019, Colorado demand averaged $ 145 million per month. In 2020, that number rose to $ 182 million and $ 202 million over the last six months of the year.
Washington State reports monthly excise revenue, not total sales. Evergreen State residents who approved a recreational pot at the same time as Colorado paid excise taxes of $ 454 million in 2020, up from more than $ 40 million the previous year.
In April, May and June, tax revenue surged over $ 40 million a month for the first time.
California, which also reports excise tax revenue on a quarterly basis, had revenue of more than $ 100 million every three months for the past year. Despite seeing a decline in a state where its annual budget now surpasses $ 200 billion, the $ 500 million Californians spent on marijuana excise taxes in 2020 rose two-thirds from 2019.
The greatest growth was in Michigan, where voters approved legalized marijuana as part of a 2018 election initiative.
This is where the market shows the clearest signs of consumer acceptance of a new product. Leisure revenue averaged $ 23 million per month in 2019, followed by a whopping $ 82 million per month last year. Michigan retailers sold over $ 100 million worth of pot products in five of the last six months of 2020.
Legal marijuana industry analysts expect significant growth in the coming years, both in states where pot is already legal and in states poised to adopt new regimes like Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont.
Sales of all cannabis products increased 67 percent in 2020, according to Flowhub, a platform for retail cannabis management. According to Leafly, a Seattle-based industry analyst firm, pot companies had sales of more than $ 18 billion in 2020. The industry is valued at $ 61 billion, a number that is likely to explode in the years to come.
Leafly said nine states more than doubled their sales last year, including conservative states like Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota, and Ohio.