{"id":9548,"date":"2022-09-13T20:55:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T20:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=5379149"},"modified":"2022-09-13T20:55:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T20:55:05","slug":"colorados-medical-marijuana-sales-hit-lowest-point-since-legalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorados-medical-marijuana-sales-hit-lowest-point-since-legalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s medical marijuana sales hit lowest point since legalization"},"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\/colorados-medical-marijuana-sales-hit-lowest-point-since-legalization\/\" 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><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/colorados-medical-marijuana-sales-hit-lowest-point-since-legalization.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s medical marijuana sales fell to their lowest point since retail sales began \u2014 the latest signal that the state\u2019s once-robust industry is facing headwinds as others crowd the U.S. market and new regulations take hold.<\/p>\n<p>In July, the state\u2019s marijuana sales for both recreational and medical were shy of \u00a0$154 million, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/cdor.colorado.gov\/data-and-reports\/marijuana-data\/marijuana-sales-reports\">Colorado Department of Revenue figures,<\/a> down from nearly $203 million a year earlier. Sales for the calendar year have passed the $1 billion mark.<\/p>\n<p>July\u2019s medical marijuana sales reached a little more than $18 million \u2013 the lowest monthly number since January 2014, when retail sales were legalized in the state. Recreational marijuana sales fared better at more than $135 million \u2013 down from $168 million a year earlier, but higher than the numbers in April, May and June.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a dangerous perception that Colorado\u2019s cannabis industry is a cash cow,\u201d said Tiffany Goldman, board chair of the Marijuana Industry Group. \u201cThis perception is false.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her trade association described the state\u2019s marijuana industry as \u201con the brink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The industry still directly employs more than 41,000 people in the Centennial State, but Goldman pointed to small cannabis businesses shuttering. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2022\/06\/15\/buddy-boy-dispensaries-close-marijuana-pot\/\">Buddy Boy Brands\u2019 seven metro-area dispensaries<\/a> locked their doors permanently in June, with owner John Fritzel blaming a tax debt with the state, a market downturn and high costs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the future, we hope lawmakers and elected leaders will understand the sad reality that Colorado cannabis businesses are struggling and that we must work to protect an industry that provides good paying jobs and tax revenue for our state,\u201d Goldman said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Shipp, director of retail at independently owned Native Roots Cannabis Co., doesn\u2019t agree that the state\u2019s cannabis industry is on the brink overall, calling medical and recreational \u201ctwo different markets completely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While both are trending downward, it\u2019s for varying reasons, he said. On the recreational side, more states are legalizing, so cannabis tourism is dropping.<\/p>\n<p>On the medical side, \u201cwe expected a decline\u201d in sales, he said, pointing to <a href=\"https:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/hb21-1317\">House Bill 1317<\/a> as a contributing factor. The measure imposed more requirements on medical marijuana patients and curbed the amount of concentrate that a patient can buy in one day to eight grams. For 18- to 20-year-olds, the limit became two grams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if we expected this large of a decline,\u201d Shipp added. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit more a hassle to actually obtain a medical card now than what it used to be, so some of them are just opting to not have to go through that process and just shop on the rec side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He notes that Native Roots has seen steady increases in medical patients over the past couple months, though, and describes himself as hopeful that the sales slump has \u201cflatlined.\u201d The company is committed to growing its medical side, Shipp added, but he doesn\u2019t expect the medical market to bounce back to its apex.<\/p>\n<p>On a broader scale, both the U.S. and global cannabis sales are on track for growth into the future, according to a rolling market forecast by cannabis data company BDSA.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>In 2026, annual cannabis sales worldwide are estimated to jump to $57 billion from $30 billion last year, with the U.S. market surging to $42 billion from $25 billion in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of this year, the nation\u2019s legal cannabis sales are projected to hit $27 billion \u2014 a 7% boost over last year\u2019s sales, according to the data released Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>BDSA highlights that \u201cthe most dramatic sales declines\u201d will likely be seen in mature adult-use markets, such as Colorado, with newer markets instead spurring sales. It notes the trend of falling medical marijuana sales, as \u201cpatients have access to increasing variety and lower prices in neighboring adult-use markets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018hockey stick\u2019 trend of sales growth seen in the early years of legal cannabis has passed, and economic and regulatory headwinds are exerting pressure on legal cannabis markets,\u201d said Roy Bingham, CEO of BDSA. \u201cThough mature legal cannabis markets in the U.S. saw sales soften in 2022, the cannabis market is still forecast to see topline growth in 2022, driven by strong sales in new and emerging markets, such as the populous states of New Jersey and New York.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>July&#8217;s medical marijuana sales only reached a little over $18 million \u2013 the lowest number ever recorded since January 2014 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,52,1867,7938,77,5577,6815,7280,6858,56,9,6882,5019,6845,1,3,2379,61,1736],"tags":[5063,2632,4435,7939,2655,5580,6820,7283,6860,2636,6883,5022,6846,4974],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9548"}],"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=9548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}