Business
Illinois Sold More Recreational Marijuana Products In September Than During Any Other Month Since Legalization
Illinois marijuana retailers sold nearly 3.7 million adult-use cannabis products in September, according to newly posted state sales data. That’s more products than during any other month since recreational sales launched in January 2020.
The money consumers spent on those products, meanwhile—$139.5 million—marked the third-highest monthly sales amount since legal markets opened, according to the data posted on Monday by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). That sum includes a record monthly high $105.1 million worth of products to in-state residents.
Visitors from out of state, meanwhile, accounted for about a quarter (24.7 percent) of purchases, or about $34.5 million.
Monthly medical marijuana sales, which are recorded through a separate system in Illinois, totaled $26.5 million in August, the most recent period for which data is available. That comprises $12.6 million in dry flower sales and $13.9 million in concentrates and infused products. Of 138,408 active medical cardholders in August, licensed dispensaries served 64,126 unique buyers, or about 46 percent.
While records indicate that Illinois consumers are paying considerably more than cannabis purchasers in many other legal states, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) recently downplayed the steep prices, noting the industry’s steady growth and considerable sales to out-of-state residents.
Illinois’s strong adult-use sales numbers come as multiple states have seen record-breaking surges in marijuana sales in recent months.
In New Mexico, for example, monthly sales in September narrowly missed a monthly sales record set in August as the state crossed the half-billion-dollar mark in total adult-use sales.
August was also a record-setting month in Rhode Island, which sold its highest amount of cannabis for the fourth consecutive month, notching $9.7 in monthly receipts.
Purchases of adult-use cannabis in August also broke a record ($23.7 million) in Montana, state officials reported, although medical marijuana sales were at their lowest ($5.0 million) since recreational markets opened early last year.
Connecticut also broke another marijuana sales record in August, with $25 million worth of medical and adult-use cannabis purchases, state data show.
In Maine, too, marijuana sales reached a record high in August, with nearly $22 million worth of purchases, according to recent data from the state Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP).
In Maryland, officials recently announced that the the state broke anther marijuana sales record in August, with nearly $92 million worth of cannabis products sold during the state’s second month of legal adult-use sales.
Early last month, Massachusetts officials reported that retailers have now sold more than $5 billion in adult-use marijuana since the state’s recreational market launched five years ago. Sales reached $139.3 million in August alone, with the year-to-date total at $1.05 billion within the first eight months of 2023.
Illinois retailers sold $140 million worth of recreational marijuana products in July—the strongest sales of the year and second highest monthly total for the state since the adult-use market launched in 2020.
Michigan marijuana sales also reached another record high in July, with nearly $277 million worth of cannabis sold.
In Missouri, meanwhile, retailers have been selling about $4 million worth of marijuana per day on average since the state’s adult-use market opened up in February—and the state saw a record $121.2 million in cannabis purchases in June.
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
