John Schroyer
One of the most mature cannabis markets in the United States, Colorado, is going through a financial crisis.
According to 9News, the statewide industry is suffering a major sales dip that has been trending downward for the better part of a year, and insiders expect business casualties in coming months.
“The Colorado marijuana industry is going through the largest downturn that we’ve ever seen,” Truman Bradley, the executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, told the TV station.
“Our industry is going through big time layoffs. Thousands of people have lost their jobs and small business owners are going under. Unfortunately, I expect that to continue into the coming year,” Bradley said.
Bradley estimated that sales in the medical marijuana market are down 47% from 2021, and recreational sales are down 20%.
"Those are huge, huge numbers," Bradley said.
Wholesale prices are also at rock bottom, 9News reported: The average price is now $658 per pound, down from $1,316 a year ago.
Sales, according to state data, are also down: In September, Colorado cannabis shops sold just $147 million worth of product, compared to $181 million in sales in September 2021 and $206 million in September 2020.
2 comments
Ron Kirkland
December 2, 2022 at 7:03 am
Colorado was the place to vacation in and get some stash, now so many other states are becoming the place to go? Not Florida
Timothy
December 3, 2022 at 7:08 am
So many people that came into my dispensary were from out of state. Now not so many because of Arizona, and New Mexico. We also had a big bump in sales because of Covid and stimulus checks.