Business
Maine Sets New Marijuana Sales Record For Fourth Month In A Row, With Nearly $22 Million In Purchases In August
Maine marijuana sales reached a record high in August, with nearly $22 million worth of purchases, according to new data from the state Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP).
This summer has seen numerous states hitting cannabis sales highs, and Maine is no exception. August was the fourth month in a row of record-breaking adult-use purchases for the state.
The $21.6 million in sales last month came from 377,050 individual cannabis transactions. Maine’s year-to-date in marijuana sales for 2023 is $140.1 million, meaning the state is well on track to beat its 2022 total of $159 million.
Most of August’s purchases consisted of flower, followed by concentrates and edibles. The average price per gram of flower last month was $7.83.
The state’s marijuana industry also stands to get some tax relief under a bill signed by Gov. Janet Mills (D) last month, allowing cannabis businesses to take state tax deductions as a partial workaround to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E that prohibits such deductions at the federal level.
The legislature has also passed a number of other cannabis reform proposals this session, including bills championed by a GOP freshman lawmaker, who previously worked as a marijuana activist, to protect gun rights for cannabis consumers and increase the number of plants that adults can grow for personal use.
Maine is far from the only state where marijuana sales are breaking records this year.
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For example, Massachusetts retailers have now sold more than $5 billion in adult-use marijuana since the state’s recreational market launched five years ago, the state reported last week. 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.
In Maryland, officials recently announced that the the state broke anther marijuana sales record last month, with nearly $92 million worth of cannabis products sold during the state’s second month of legal adult-use sales.
Michigan marijuana sales reached yet another record high in July, with nearly $277 million worth of cannabis sold.
Three other Northeastern states beside Maine—Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island—also each hit new records for cannabis purchases in July.
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.
Missouri 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 WeedPornDaily.
