The state’s sales in May were the lowest since the month of September 2022 when they reported $80.9 million.
By David Abbott, Arizona Mirror
Arizona’s marijuana industry trended down in May according to the latest figures released by the Arizona Department of Revenue. Adult-use recreational sales fell to $82.9 millions, while medical cannabis was sold for just $28.3million, the lowest amount since recreational sales started in January 2021.
Since April 2021, when medical sales peaked at $73.3 million, they have been declining steadily. In July that year, the medical cannabis market had dropped below $40 Million for the first ever time. The market never recovered.
Since September 2022 the medical sales have been hovering around $30 million.
In 2023, the recreational market is expected to nearly triple its previous figures in a few months. This trend has continued since the last report.
ADOR revised the total by approximately $1 million to reflect a decrease in recreational sales. It also increased the estimated sales for April from $86.5 to $90.1 millions.
The May total is the lowest since ADOR’s sales of $80.9 million in September 2022.
The medical market sold $1.4 billion worth of product since recreational sales began in March 2015. Meanwhile, the recreational market has exceeded $2 billion. Voters approved the Smart and Safe Arizona Act in 2020 which legalized marijuana use and possession for adults older than 18.
In March 2021, medical sales of slightly over $73 million and recreation sales of $59 millions combined reached the 100 million dollar mark for the first time.
Since then, cannabis sales have exceeded $100 million each month.
In October 2021, adult-use sales of $65,8 million and medical sale of $64.4 million were equal.
The total tax collected for the two programs in May was $15.6 millions.
Medical patients pay approximately 6 percent state sales tax. Local jurisdictions charge an extra 2 percent for all marijuana sales.
In 2023, the excise tax collected on sales of adult-use marijuana has generated about $182.3 millions. In 2021, sales of recreational cannabis generated $32.9 million for 11 months. By 2022, that figure jumped to $132.8 millions. Since the program’s launch, the state has collected over $348 million of marijuana excise tax.
One third of these taxes is dedicated to community colleges and provisional district community colleges; 31 percent goes to public safety including police, fire department, fire districts, and first responders, 25 percent goes to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, and 10 percent goes to the Justice Reinvestment Fund, which provides public health services, job training, counseling and other social services to communities who have been negatively affected by marijuana arrests.
Arizona Department of Health Services reported that as of July there were 126.938 cardholders who qualified for recreational sales. This is down from the 127.288 qualifying patients in May, and less than half of 299,054 in January 2021 when the recreational sales began.
Arizona medical cannabis users have bought 4,620.7 pounds in different forms of marijuana through July. Total for June: 4,761.85 pounds
Arizona Mirror was the first to publish this story.
Local Government Groups Tell California AG That allowing interstate cannabis commerce would not risk federal enforcement, Local Government groups tell
Photo by Philip Steffan.
The post Arizona Marijuana Sale Slipped, Reaching Lowest Numbers in Nearly A Year first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
