{"id":8030,"date":"2018-01-26T20:10:45","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2932267&amp;preview_id=2932267"},"modified":"2018-01-26T20:10:45","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:10:45","slug":"wholesale-cannabis-prices-hit-historic-lows-in-january-but-dont-blame-jeff-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wholesale-cannabis-prices-hit-historic-lows-in-january-but-dont-blame-jeff-sessions\/","title":{"rendered":"Wholesale cannabis prices hit historic lows in January, but don\u2019t blame Jeff Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wholesale-cannabis-prices-hit-historic-lows-in-january-but-dont-blame-jeff-sessions\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Jan 25, 2018, 3:52 pm \u2022 Updated: Jan 26, 2018, 10:28 am <span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/bkennedy\/\" rel=\"author\">Bruce Kennedy<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The price of a pound of legal marijuana plummeted in January, according to a new report tracking the commodity\u2019s U.S. spot price index.<\/p>\n<p>The first month of 2018 has been marked by uncertainty in the cannabis industry after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded Obama-era guidance on marijuana enforcement. But analysts at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cannabisbenchmarks.com\/\">Cannabis Benchmarks<\/a>, an independent price reporting agency, said that the policy shift has not yet had a major impact on legal cannabis prices nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, an overabundance of cannabis sent wholesale prices into a free fall, the firm reported.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. spot index for cannabis last week stood at a national average of $1,292 per pound, a 3.5% decline compared to the week prior, according to Cannabis Benchmarks.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to commodities like gold and oil, the Denver-based independent price reporting agency tracks spot prices \u2014 the current value in the marketplace at which an asset can be bought or sold for immediate delivery.<\/p>\n<p>The overall drop in pot prices \u201cwas driven primarily by significant week-over-week decline in wholesale rates in Oregon, though most of the major Western markets saw decreases in their composite prices, with Colorado the only exception,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<p>Prices were also dragged down by Washington state, where they fell to $1,004 per pound, the lowest price Cannabis Benchmarks has seen in three years of reporting.<\/p>\n<p>Demand for legal pot leveled off in some of the mature cannabis markets during the second half of 2017, report author Adam Koh told The Cannabist. While there may still be some growth in those markets, expect the downward trend in prices to continue through the first quarter of 2018, he said.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/10\/02\/colorado-marijuana-prices-national-wholesale\/88740\/\">Colorado drags down national marijuana prices in first half of 2017 <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The firm\u2019s data indicates that thus far, Sessions\u2019 marijuana moves have not had a noticeable effect on cannabis prices, Koh said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been any sort of material alteration to supply and demand stemming from the Sessions announcement,\u201d he said. \u201cThe way it could possibly affect the market is if businesses were actually raided or shut down. Then you might have people unwilling to trade wholesale. Obviously a dispensary wouldn\u2019t to want to take in inventory if there was a credible threat of being raided with significant amounts of cannabis on hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cannabis is not any more federally illegal today than it was prior to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/04\/jeff-sessions-rescinding-legalized-marijuana-policy\/95875\/\">Sessions\u2019 Jan. 4 announcement<\/a>, Koh added. In his view, until some sort of federal cannabis crackdown takes place, few state-legal cannabis companies will be inclined to flee the market.<\/p>\n<p>This year also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/01\/california-marijuana-legalization-2018\/95667\/\">began with the legalization of adult-use cannabis in California<\/a>, the largest economy in the country \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ccsce.com\/PDF\/Numbers-July-2017-CA-Economy-Rankings-2016.pdf\">and the sixth largest economy in the world.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But how California\u2019s entry into the legal cannabis market will affect cannabis prices in 2018 remains uncertain, in part because it has an \u201centrenched\u201d informal marijuana market, Koh said.<\/p>\n<p>Last October, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/10\/02\/colorado-marijuana-prices-national-wholesale\/88740\/\">Cannabis Benchmarks analysts estimated<\/a> that only a \u201csmall fraction\u201d of commercial cannabis transactions during 2018 will take place within the licensed marketplace, citing the state\u2019s vast black market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes it very difficult to project, because it\u2019s really been its own animal,\u201d Koh said. \u201cBut I think California regulators\u2026they have definitely taken lessons from other states in terms of certain allowances and things that businesses are able to do, so as not to cause immediate (price) disruptions like we\u2019ve seen with some of the roll-out of recreational sales in other states.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/09\/05\/marijuana-weed-prices-national\/87342\/\">The price of marijuana has collapsed in legal era<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The Golden State\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/12\/26\/california-marijuana-enforcement-lori-ajax\/95317\/\">best efforts<\/a> might not be enough to prevent market disruptions in spring and early summer when most of the its current cannabis business licenses expire, he said. Starting in May, officials will not only be dealing with those expiring licenses, but also with the issuance of new annual license.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue for cannabis prices in California: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/06\/20\/california-marijuana-testing-regulations\/81964\/\">Stricter testing of legal cannabis goes into effect there starting July 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cannabis Benchmarks analysts think it\u2019s possible that growers will work to move product ahead of that prior to more strict testing going into effect,\u201d Koh said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot will depend on how supply chain comes together as more growers get licensed and more product is manufactured and extractors become licensed,\u201d he said. \u201cWill the testing labs be able to keep up? Right now retailers are selling their existing inventory, while testing is not as strict as it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#013; &#013; <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/bkennedy\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/wholesale-cannabis-prices-hit-historic-lows-in-january-but-dont-blame-jeff-sessions.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Bruce Kennedy is a veteran communications professional and multi-media journalist who has years of experience in international and business news. He started covering Colorado&#8217;s cannabis industry in&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>The U.S. Spot Index for cannabis last week stood at a national average of $1,292 per pound, a 3.5% decline compared to the week prior, according to Cannabis Benchmarks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,6811,6813,77,6858,9,5019,170,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[2628,6816,6818,2655,6860,5022,2748],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}