A third of Colorado’s marijuana workforce has been laid off

Marijuana-related jobs are becoming increasingly difficult to find in Colorado. You’ve probably seen headlines claiming that Colorado marijuana sales are declining. Additionally, the state’s cannabis workforce has declined 28 percent, according to a recent report.

This is a first for the Centennial State, which legalized the sale of adult-use cannabis back in 2014. While such trends can be seen across the country, reports show that Colorado has been hit hardest.

Between February 2022 and February of this year, cannabis company owners shed nearly 10,500 jobs within the state, bringing the state to a total of 27,856 workers. Compare that to industry employment rates in other states:

• California – 85,593
• Florida – 29.011
• Illinois—29,925
• Massachusetts—28,370
• Michigan—35,405

It’s no surprise that a state like California has surpassed Colorado on sheer size alone. However, compared to a state like Florida (which only offers medical marijuana), that’s a surprise

Colorado’s job decline matches the drop in wholesale cannabis prices: Currently, prices are down 61 percent compared to 2021.

“I’m not surprised,” Truman Bradley, chief executive officer of Marijuana Industry Group, told Westword. “The industry has endured a 20-month downturn with no end in sight. Sales are down over 20% on the recreational side and over 45% on the medical side this year.”

According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, the state recorded $129.4 million in its first month of sales. This is a 15% decrease from the $151.1 million it sold in January 2022. And more than 30% less than in January 2021.

This drop in sales affects the entire industry. Accountants, software vendors and other business service providers are downsizing. Not to mention that government and tax revenues are also falling.

“The economic impact of the cannabis industry in Colorado is real, and unfortunately we are seeing a contraction have ripple effects,” Bradley noted.

Job cuts as a result of legalization, economic inflation and COVID-19

While times are tough for Colorado’s cannabis industry, some economic forecasts are optimistic. The governor’s office of state planning and budgeting projects that marijuana tax revenues will increase 16% in 2024.

Still, these job cuts are just a reminder of the ongoing struggles the country faces due to the 2020 public health crisis.

“COVID has changed a lot of things in the cannabis and other industries,” Bradley said. “After a big shock like this, it’s hard to say what the world would have been like without it. We had the best year ever, followed immediately by a downturn. It’s not just that other states have legalized. We’re also dealing with high levels of inflation that we haven’t seen since cannabis became legal.”

With that in mind, it’s difficult to predict which direction Colorado should take its industry. Bradley believes there are “long-term concerns” about the current 15% excise tax on wholesale marijuana.

Colorado remains just one of three states that levy an excise tax on wholesale cannabis transfers. Such a decision was approved by voters when Coloradans first legalized it in 2012.

“When Colorado voted for the various tax plans now in place, in some cases we were the only legal marketplace to buy cannabis for close to a thousand miles,” Bradley said. “That’s no longer the case, so the second decade needs to look different than the first decade if the cannabis industry is to survive in Colorado.”