During the first full year of adult-use cannabis legal sales in Rhode Island state-licensed business sold marijuana products worth more than $100,000,000, including almost $70,000,000 in recreational sales.
The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation has just updated its data through November and shows that retailers have sold legal cannabis worth $105.0 million since December 2022. The total sales were made up of two-thirds recreational marijuana, and the remainder medical marijuana.
Rhode Island’s purchasing activity increased steadily throughout the majority of the year. The peak was in August when the total sales were at their highest, and September when adult-use sales set a new record.
The sales of medical marijuana have fallen steadily over the past year. This is a common trend for existing medical markets when adult-use sales begin. The medical marijuana sales in November were the lowest for the year. They came in at just over $2.3 million.
In November, recreational sales totaled about $6.9million, the lowest level since July. The total sales of $9.2 millions were the lowest since June.
Pre-rolled joints topped the list of products sold last month by number, with 162,060 units. The next highest category was “pre-packaged buds” with just over 160,000 products, followed by edibles (69.332), vape cartridges (53.911), infused bud pre-rolls (15.015), concentrates (13,132), tinctures (901), and topicals (789).
The department reported that the average November purchase was $25.21.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee celebrated the first year in which adult-use sales were legalized by the state. This celebration ended at the end November.
He said, “One year after adult-use cannabis was legalized in Rhode Island we are proud of our careful execution which defined our entry into the industry.” This success is a growing opportunity not only for our state, but also for nearly 70 licensed growers, processors and manufacturers within the State of Rhode Island, who we know are essential to our local supply chain.
Officials at the time said that Rhode Island had achieved many things in the last year, including the creation of the Cannabis Control Commission to regulate the new sector. McKee nominated the commissioners in May, and lawmakers confirmed them in June. The commission also hired a Chief Legal Counsel and plans to hire more in the coming months.
has also requested that the state law be amended. This includes a request to narrow the qualifications for applicants for social equity, expand the fund for social equity with more tax revenues, allow fee waivers, and offer provisional licenses.
Regulators have been requesting state and federal data in order to better define the social equity eligibility.
In October, Rhode Island officials quietly updated marijuana sales figures dating back to the state’s launch of its adult-use market, in December 2022. This corrected discrepancies that could sometimes amount to tens or thousands of dollars.
This adjustment was made in response to Marijuana Moment’s request for clarification after the Department of Business Regulation of Washington State published its monthly sales figures from September. Initial, the retail sales totals published by the state did not match the combined medical and recreational sales.
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Photo by M A N U e L.
The first time Marijuana Moment was published, the post Rhode Island Marijuana retailers Hit $100 Million Milestone in First Year of Adult-Use Marijuana Sales.
