Hashish gross sales broke one other document final 12 months, topping $2.22 billion in merchandise offered, in accordance with the Colorado Department of Revenue. This eclipses 2020 gross sales that reached upwards of $2.1 billion, which set a earlier document.
Peter Marcus, a spokesperson for the leisure and medical hashish dispensary chain Terrapin Care Station, wasn’t shocked when he noticed the most recent numbers from the state. Recognition for hashish has solely grown for the reason that state-licensed retail gross sales of the plant in 2014, he stated. Plus, 2021, identical to its predecessor, was full of pandemic anxiousness.
“We discover throughout crises occasions that individuals have a tendency to show to aid, and beforehand it had been alcohol. I believe having this authorized various was a major shift for folks,” he stated. “What we discovered from the pandemic is that hashish is kind of recession-proof.”
For the reason that state started monitoring hashish gross sales in January 2014, weed offered by each medical and retail hashish shops has cashed in over $12.2 billion.
Retail hashish made up the overwhelming majority of final 12 months’s gross sales, roughly 82% or $1.82 billion of the $2.22 billion. Enterprise peaked in March 2021 when retailers introduced in additional than $207 million that month.
Hashish is an enormous driver of tax revenue for Colorado, raking in over $423 million final 12 months alone and upwards of $2 billion since 2014 in gross sales and excise taxes and costs. It’s additionally an enormous employer. In line with an annual Leafly report, over 35,500 Coloradans labored within the hashish trade in 2021.
Regardless of the billions of {dollars} flowing into the trade, it’s “an extremely aggressive market,” stated Marcus from Terrapin. It’s altering, too, which makes 2022 a bit unsure.
“You are seeing a major quantity of mergers and acquisitions, the place smaller hashish firms are being purchased out by a lot bigger firms. What that is going to do to the market, we’re unsure about,” he stated.
Marcus, nonetheless, is optimistic that gross sales will proceed to rise subsequent 12 months.
