Illinois adult-use cannabis retailers sold a record amount of marijuana to Illinoisans in November.
Last month, the total sales of all stores including those sold to residents outside the state reached their fifth highest monthly level since January 2020.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reported that the total sales of recreational marijuana in Illinois in November totaled $139.1 millions. The agency reported that $105.5 million of this total was sold to residents in the state and $33.6 million by visitors. These figures do not include tax.
In November, state-licensed retailers also moved more adult-use marijuana items than ever before. They sold 3.77 million products – up from 3.74 million in the previous month.
The state’s medical marijuana sales have not been updated yet for November. According to the most recent numbers of the Medical Cannabis Patient Program for October, dispensaries had sold $26.2 millions worth of medical marijuana, including $12.4 in dry flower, and $13.8 in concentrates, infused products and infused products.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker , a Democrat, recently downplayed Illinois’ high prices by pointing out the industry’s steady growth as well as the significant sales to residents from other states.
In a new report, state officials said that the growth of state-legal marijuana sales in fiscal year 2023 was “unprecedented”, with 28 new retail outlets and total sales exceeding $1.5 billion.
According to the Department of Revenue, Illinois collected nearly $100 million more in tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol in 2021. Illinois has made more money from cannabis in the past than it did from alcohol.
200 conditional licences were granted over the course of the fiscal year. The department finalized the rules for the Social Equity Criteria Lottery in December 2022. This lottery is aimed at giving priority to people who are disproportionately affected by the drug war. Over 2,600 people applied for 55 social equity dispensary licences.
Cook County is the most populous county in the state.
A recent report from the state’s Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer indicated that the diversity of the marijuana industry has increased significantly since the adult-use sales started. This is a sign that recent efforts to prioritize social equality license applicants are having a tangible impact.
The office’s report on diversity revealed that when recreational marijuana sales started in 2020, “the initial businesses were 100% White-owned and only one was majority female-owned.” has improved its measures of diversity.
The key change is that Black-owned businesses increased from 0 to 27 percent in the period 2020-2023. Latino/a and Hispanic-owned firms also grew from 0 to 5 percent. Asian-owned businesses went from 0 to 3 percent. Women now own 16 percent of cannabis-licensed companies.
The small craft cannabis growers are struggling, however, despite millions of state aid.
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The article Illinois Marijuana Retailers set record for sales to in-state residents, selling most individual cannabis products in any month since launch first appeared on Marijuana moment.
