Business
Connecticut Marijuana Sales Reach New High Of $24 Million In June, For Total Of $122 Million In First Six Months Of Recreational Sales
Six months into the launch of Connecticut’s adult-use marijuana market, the state saw nearly $24 million in combined medical and recreational cannabis sales in June—a record monthly high—according to the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). Since adult-use sales began six months ago in January, Connecticut cannabis purchases have collectively totaled about $122 million.
June also marked the second month in a row where adult-use sales ($12.5 million) exceeded medical marijuana purchases ($11.3 million). People purchased 313,510 products recreational cannabis products during the month, compared to 303,293 medical marijuana products.
The department also released data showing the types of marijuana items that consumers are buying, with 53 percent of sales coming from cannabis flower, 25 percent from vape products and ten percent from edibles.
“The preliminary data does not include taxes collected at the point of sale on adult-use transactions and is subject to further review by the department,” DCP said. “Medical marijuana patients do not pay taxes on the purchase of their medicine.”
“Adults who choose to consume cannabis are reminded to do so responsibly, including storing cannabis products in their original packaging, locked up and out of reach of children and pets,” the department added.
So far, it appears that Connecticut is experiencing the same type of commercial trends that other states have seen after enacting legalization, with the medical cannabis market gradually thinning as the adult-use system matures and expands.
People also spent about $22 million on marijuana in Connecticut in March, the state reported, but medical cannabis was still the primary driver at that point.
Meanwhile, as of July 1, Connecticut adults 21 and older are now able to start growing their own marijuana plants for personal use—one of the latest provisions of the state’s cannabis legalization law to take effect.
Ahead of that law becoming effective, DCP published a notice to remind the public about the policy change, detailing the rules and encouraging people who choose to participate to cultivate cannabis “responsibly.”
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Gov. Ned Lamont (D) recently signed a budget bill that includes provisions to provide state-level tax relief to licensed marijuana businesses that are currently prohibited for making federal deductions under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.
A separate cannabis omnibus bill was also signed by the governor last month that contains a number of reforms, including the establishment of off-site event permits for marijuana retailers, restricting intoxicating hemp-derived products and creating a new Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman.
Connecticut’s House of Representatives approved a bill in May to build on the state’s marijuana legalization and expungements law by requiring courts to reduce sentences or dismiss charges for a wider range of cannabis-related convictions and, accordingly, to release people who are currently incarcerated on those charges.
The House also passed a measure in May to bill to decriminalize possession of psilocybin mushrooms.
Neither of those bills were taken up by the Senate prior to the end of the legislative session, however.
Separately, Lamont announced in January that the state had cleared nearly 43,000 records for marijuana-related convictions. The legalization legislation that he signed into law in 2021 empowered the state government to facilitate mass cannabis conviction relief.
Connecticut prosecutors announced in April that they have dismissed more than 1,500 pending marijuana cases, while modifying about 600 others, following a review as part of the state’s post-legalization criminal erasure program.
Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily.
