Colorado Marijuana Outlets Sold $1.74 Billion in Marijuana Products in 2019
Marijuana stores in Colorado sold over $1.74 billion in marijuana and marijuana products in 2019. This marks a new state record: Marijuana has been legal in the state since 2012. This is all according to data released by the Colorado Department of Revenue, and first reported by Westword.
According to High Times, the $1.74 billion figure represents a significant jump for the marijuana industry in the state after back-to-back years of stagnant revenue. In 2017, marijuana dispensaries in the state sold a little more than $1.5 billion in cannabis products—at the time, a high-water mark for Colorado, which legalized recreational pot in 2012 and implemented the law in 2014.
“Sales didn’t improve much in 2018, with the number climbing only to $1.54 billion.” Tom Adams, managing director at cannabis market research firm BDS Analytics, told CNN that he attributes the big jump in 2019 to the proliferation of non-flower marijuana products, such as edibles and vape pens, while he said the sluggish growth in 2017 and 2018 was likely the result of price drops.
“To see it turn around in 2019 is a bullish indicator that price compression can’t keep the popularity of legal cannabis down,” Adams said.
As noted by High Times, a study released last year supported Adams’ point: an investigation published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that the percentage of teens in Colorado who reported eating cannabis rose from two percent in 2015 to 10 percent in 2017, while the percentage of those who said they dabbed rose from four percent to 7.5 percent.
“These modes are important to monitor because of their unique psychoactive associations, and potential harms, including unintentional overconsumption with edibles and increased physiological tolerance and withdrawal associated with the high tetrahydrocannabinol levels of cannabis concentrates used for dabbing,” the study said.
Last year, those marijuana sales in Colorado more than $300 million in tax and licensing revenue—also a new high. All told, the state has generated more than $1.2 billion in tax and licensing revenue since the law officially took effect in 2014.