Rosario Dawson Joins Board Of Marijuana Business As Partner Cory Booker Pushes For Legalization In Senate

July was a particularly productive and profitable month for the marijuana industry as retailers achieved record sales in at least four states.

This continues a trend seen in numerous states as the cannabis markets have come and matured online. And that’s all the more impressive when you consider how the industry has developed despite the coronavirus pandemic.

In Illinois, Maine, and Michigan, sales of adult marijuana products hit new highs in July. The same is true of the Missouri medical cannabis market.

Here is a breakdown of the record month of marijuana sales in July:

Illinois

The Prairie State recorded nearly $ 128 million in recreational cannabis purchases last month – more than double its total monthly sales from last year.

In July, people bought 2,802,124 individual cannabis products, which is another monthly record.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reported that residents of the state bought $ 85 million, or 69 percent, of marijuana, while visitors from other states had sales of $ 42 million.

July marks the fifth consecutive month that sales in the Illinois adult market exceeded $ 100 million. If the trend continues, the state is well on its way to top $ 1 billion in adult marijuana sales in 2021.

That would mean a significant increase in revenue for the state. Illinois sold about $ 670 million in cannabis and raised $ 205.4 million in tax revenue last year.

Illinois took in more marijuana tax dollars than alcohol for the first time in the last quarter, officials reported in May. From January through March, Illinois generated approximately $ 86,537,000 in tax revenue on adult marijuana, compared with $ 72,281,000 from liquor sales.

Maine

Adult marijuana sales reached $ 9.4 million in July – a 45 percent increase from the previous month’s record.

Local cannabis entrepreneurs attribute the July 4th vacation and tourism to the surge, The Portland Press Herald reported.

The recreational cannabis retail market opened last October and is growing in popularity. July marks the first time adult sales rivaled those of the state’s older medical marijuana market.

And, of course, these soaring sales add to the state’s tax revenue. The Maine Office of Marijuana Policy reported $ 943,500 in sales tax revenue for cannabis for July.

Michigan

Michigan marijuana sales broke another record last month, with more than $ 171 million in cannabis transactions, according to data from a state regulator released last week.

In July, $ 128 million in adult sales and $ 43 million in medical cannabis were purchased.

The previous month, it sold $ 107 million in recreational marijuana and $ 42 million in medicinal cannabis.

For July, total revenue is $ 23 million in tax revenue, some of which is used for infrastructure projects, public education, and individual jurisdictions.

Last week, state officials also granted $ 20 million in marijuana tax revenue to fund two research projects to investigate the therapeutic potential of cannabis for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Most of last month’s recreational sales went to flowering cannabis products ($ 63.5 million), followed by vape cartridges ($ 26.3 million) and edibles ($ 18.5 million).

Missouri

For the first time, medical cannabis sales in Missouri exceeded $ 20 million in July.

Analysts say the record numbers are largely due to a combination of new pharmacy openings and growing patient recruitment in the state’s medical marijuana program.

With cannabis sales of $ 21 million in July, the total number of medical marijuana purchases in the state increases to approximately $ 91 million by 2021.

Meanwhile, a group of marijuana activists from Missouri recently tabled four separate initiatives to put marijuana reform on the state’s 2022 ballot, a move that comes as other stakeholders prepare separate efforts to get signatures for their own cannabis Collect ballot petitions.

Still other activists focus on getting lawmakers to pass a resolution to bring the issue of legalization to the electorate next year.

These record-breaking sales reports have become a common theme in all constitutional states amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A recent scientific analysis of sales data in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state found that marijuana purchases “rose more sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic than in the previous two years.”

“The results show an overall increase in cannabis sales following stay-at-home orders placed in AK, CO, OR and WA in late March 2020,” the report said in the International Journal of Drug Policy earlier this month became. “In all four states, these increases were greater than the percentage increases seen in the previous two years.”

During the pandemic, many states allowed cannabis retailers to stay open – with governors and regulators in several markets making marijuana companies essential services – and some jurisdictions enacted emergency rules that allow roadside collections, delivery services, or other looser guidelines to keep things socially to facilitate distance.

One exception to the booming sales trend, however, is Colorado, where purchases fell again in June, the last month for which data is available.

Ohio activists are filing a revised petition to legalize marijuana for voting in 2022 after the state rejected an earlier version

Marijuana Moment is made possible with the support of readers. If you rely on our cannabis journalism to keep up to date, please consider making a monthly Patreon Pledge.