Where is weed cheapest and most expensive in the US?

By Nicolas Jose Rodriguez

In a recent analyst note, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Pablo Zuanic examined the retail price differences in cannabis flower across 14 states (six with recreational and medicinal sales and eight with medicinal sales).

The range from lowest to highest was as follows:

• Connecticut was priced at $ 9.75 per gram (whole flower, 3.5 g formats);
• Florida $ 11.97;
• New York $ 13.70;
• Ohio $ 13.83;
• Maryland $ 13.89;
• New Jersey $ 14.95;
• Pennsylvania $ 15.62;
• $ 18.60.

Photo by Ethan Miller / Staff / Getty Images

Why is cannabis so cheap in Connecticut?

Retail prices vary widely across medical markets, with Virginia being twice that of Connecticut.

“The CT example is surprising, and we took care to rule out second cuts and loops. There are only four licensed breeders in CT and currently only 17 medical pharmacies. But it seems that the supply is plentiful relative to the demand. We say this because the five stores in CT we surveyed had a combined 246 SKUs of flowers in 3.5g sizes, which is way above most of the other medical states we surveyed, ex PA and MD (NY 22; FL 82; VA 88.). ; OH 171; NJ 239; PA 427; MD 516). The lower prices may also reflect the quality available, ”wrote Zuanic.

Florida weed is cheap too

Without CT, FL had the lowest flower prices among the medical markets that Cantor studied.

Zuanic believes this is partly related to increased price competition in the state, although he has no historical data as a benchmark.

“The state has 391 stores, which is the highest of the medical states we surveyed; With 18 stores per 1 million population, FL ranks above MD (16), PA (11), OH (5), CT (5), NJ (2.7), NY (2.1), and VA (0.7) . We do not consider the increased number of branches necessary and only explain the lower prices; it is also likely to have to do with increased capacity and slower patient growth in the state program (+3,000 per week versus + 5,000 / week in the second quarter), ”Zuanic said in the report.

Middle of the road

New York, Ohio, and Maryland are in the same price range ($ 13.70 to $ 13.90). He found that Maryland and Ohio prices are similar, although the MD market is more developed ($ 550 million annually versus $ 390 million), with more sales, stores, and SKUs.

Zuanic stated that NY’s legal industry has to compete with a large illegal market which, in his opinion, makes NY prices 26% below VA (a state that has also only recently approved the sale of the whole flower).

Photo by Michele Ursi / Getty Images

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“NY has just started selling whole flowers, but supplies are running out. Yes, there are 40 pharmacies in the state, but we only counted 22 whole flower SKUs in the five stores we surveyed (the five MD stores we surveyed had> 500). “

New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Zuanic estimates New Jersey’s medical sales at $ 375 million on an annual basis, while Headset estimates Pennsylvania’s sales at $ 1.18 billion a year. About 3% of the PA population are active patients compared with 1.3% in NJ.

Zuanic noted that PA medical prices are the highest (for flowers) among medical states except VA. He noted that this reflected “a vibrant drug market in PA for high quality pop penetration”.

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Zuanic also noted that the demand side of the New Jersey medical market was not very developed, which, coupled with a large illegal market, “likely explains NJ prices are well below VA.”

“With more supplies and more stores (139 versus 23), PA prices are in line with New Jersey,” added the analyst.

Illinois and Massachusetts: The highest prices in any resort state

According to Cantor’s survey, IL whole flower prices are US $ 18.41 per gram, almost double the prices in CO (US $ 9.33 / g); in a similar range with MI at $ 12.18, CA at $ 12.51, and NV at $ 12.71.

MA is second highest after IL with prices of $ 14.89. “IL doesn’t rank above MA or MI in per capita spending (IL $ 141, MI $ 181, MA $ 237), but we think few stores and apparently tight supply compared to other markets explain the higher prices,” explained Zuanic.

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Although MA wholesale prices are 11% lower than IL, retail prices are ~ 20% lower, likely due to a higher number of stores in MA. “Based on official government data, IL now has an annual running rate of $ 1.79 billion in recreational and medical sales,” while “MA is at $ 1.63 billion.”

Other states

The Virginia medical market is in its early stages. “Only six pharmacies are open and we estimate the current patient number to be only 35,000 (0.4% population penetration). While SKU numbers are lower than other states, the average of 18 3.5g whole flower SKUs per store in VA is well above the 4.4 average in NY. We believe that the higher prices compared to NY are mainly explained by the larger illegal market in NY. “

NV is a more segmented market. “In NV we surveyed five stores, with AYR Las Vegas having an average price of $ 11.26 versus $ 12.40 for Reef Las Vegas and the other three stores priced above $ 13.60 (MedMen LV, Curaleaf LV, Rise Carson City). We believe that NV in retail (in terms of price range) could be a more segmented market. “

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.