Adult Cannabis in Massachusetts: In Numbers

Hey Prohibitionists – do you like apples?

Because Massachusetts made $ 2 billion in legal cannabis sales in the past three years. How do you like the apples?

Seriously, yell out how far Massachusetts has come. From a lackluster start to legalization on November 8th, 2016 to today’s singing, dancing beacon in the northeast.

Here’s legal cannabis in Massachusetts – in numbers.

summary

(Sheet, 2021)

To go into detail

Massachusetts’s heavily state-controlled industry wasn’t built in a day. But it is evolving into a legal superpower supplying a large amount of legal cannabis:

• Day voters approved question 4: November 8, 2016
• First day of legal sale: 20th November 2018
• Gross sales since retailers opened: $ 2.05 billion (November 18th until today)
• Retail sales since the beginning of the year: $ 886 million (Jan.-end of Aug. 2021)

Related

The most popular cannabis strains in Massachusetts right now

Market penetration

Still, the vast majority of Massachusetts cannabis users will likely shop on the streets until there are more stores.

• Population: 6.893 million
• Number of Definitive Licenses for Marijuana Dealers: 170
• Final store licenses per capita: 1 shop per 40,547 inhabitants

Most popular product classes

Massachusetts’ newly legal smokers love their pre-rolls! The main categories of cannabis products in Massachusetts are:

• Buds—31%
• raw pre-rolls—28%
• edible-19%
• Steam products—13%
• focus-5%
• Drink-3%
• infused pre-rolls1%

The word “pre-roll” is derived from the concept of a “pre-rolled joint”. But shouldn’t it just be called a ‘roll’ or a joint? Nobody says, ‘I would like a scoop of ice cream.’ Or a “bottled beer”. Anyway … where were we? Oh yes, the numbers. (Adobe warehouse)

Cultivation warming up

Slowly too – the advent of legal growing in the Pilgrim State. The relatively few existing farms have massive numbers of plants.

• Final Licenses for Marijuana Growers: 88
• Establish marijuana collaborations: 2
• Total number of plants for August 49.1 million

Taxes and Typical Consumer Spending

And now to the most important question: How much are the taxes and what does that stuff cost?

Adult marijuana is subject to:

• state sales tax—6.25%
• state excise tax—10.75%
• local option for cities or towns—up to 3%

A legal ounce is still pretty expensive, and most buyers are just trying.

• monthly average cost per 1 ounce of adult cannabis: $ 397.11
• Average spend per transaction: $ 41.32

What’s the law like again?

After all, you can’t blame anyone for not knowing the specific wording of the law – like how many flowers you can walk around or grow with. It’s enough to stay lit almost every day; if that’s your thing

• Amount of flowers that are legal to own in public: 2 ounces
• Number of plants that can be legally grown at home: 12th

(Sources: Cannabis control in Massachusetts; Leafly)

David Downs

David Downs heads Leafly.com’s news and lifestyle coverage as California Bureau Chief. He has written for WIRED, Rolling Stone and Billboard and is the former cannabis editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and author of several cannabis books, including “Marijuana Harvest” by Ed Rosenthal and David Downs. He is the co-host of The Hash podcast. TW: @davidrdowns | IG @daviddowns

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