Adult cannabis in Massachusetts will reach nearly $4 billion in 2022

The Massachusetts CCC report shows that between January 1 and December 18, 2022, the state raised $1.42 billion in adult sales. In a sales breakdown by month, the state amassed a fairly constant amount of sales, with the highest being $132.4 million in July and $130.8 million in August, and the lowest being $110.1 million -Dollars in February and just $73 million in December (since the record stopped). December 18, these sales dates are lower).

The last week of sales per day before December 25 was remarkably high, starting at $3.2 million on Monday December 12 and reaching a high of $5.1 million on Saturday December 17. December, falling to $4 million on December 18. Specifically, consumers this week primarily bought flowers, totaling over $11 million, followed by vape-related products for $6 million, and pre-rolls and edibles, each worth about $4 million.

Massachusetts legalized adult-use cannabis in November 2018, and since then the state has grossed $3.9 billion. It first hit $1 billion in October 2020, then $2 billion in July 2021, and $3 billion in May 2022.

Sales of medicinal cannabis in 2022 reached US$260.2 million in the same period, although after the months of March and April with the highest medicinal sales, in which US$24.7 million and US$24.4 million, respectively dollars were taken, a gradual decline can be observed. The Massachusetts CCC chart generally shows a decline in sales from that point to $20.6 million in November and finally to $12.1 million in December.

Gross medical cannabis sales this December only reached $929.6 million, still reflecting steady overall growth since November 2018. Although medical cannabis began operations in Massachusetts in January 2013, sales data prior to November 2018, before the CCC took control of the company’s medical marijuana use program, is not available.

In the last four years since adult cannabis use began, the cost of flower has come down over time. With a few exceptions in March, April and May 2020 due to the pandemic, the average price of flowers per gram remained around $14 through June 2021. Thereafter, the price per gram continued to decline each month, landing at $7.76 per gram in November 2022 and rising slightly to $8.07 in November 2022. This aligns with CCC data covering the state’s history of cannabis cultivation show. In terms of crops harvested, the state started November 2018 with just 79 crops; followed by 247,793 in November 2019; 699,938 in November 2020; 1,413,311 in November 2021; and finally a huge jump to 2,655,494 plants in November 2022.

According to Boston.com, Brandon Pollock, CEO of Theory Wellness, said that the completion of many cultivation facilities over the past year has contributed to an imbalance between supply and demand. “The last 12 months have been pretty drastic. I’d say in the wholesale market, prices could fall about 50% in a year, which is especially difficult for people who are only on the grow side of the business,” Pollock told Boston.com.

Joseph Lekach, CEO of Apothca, also stated that this imbalance has been around for a while. “One and a half, two, three years ago it wasn’t good either. It was unbalanced on the high side, now it’s unbalanced on the low side. So from a customer perspective, that’s temporarily good,” Lekach told Boston.com. “But many producers and breeders will cut costs wherever they can just to stay alive. You will bring out an inferior product. It’s a double-edged sword.”

Lekach also estimated that many cannabis companies will be out of business by next year due to this current trend. “We have no idea where the bottom will be. I think a lot of companies are suffering from this,” said Lekach. “I think you’ll probably see over the next year and into 2024 that a lot of companies will go out of business.”