With January sales totaling more than $129 million, Colorado has officially passed $14 billion in total cannabis sales since recreational sales began in 2014, according to a report from the Colorado Department of Revenue.
However, January 2023’s sales were down nearly $10 million from December 2022 and down by nearly $22 million from the $151 million in sales in January 2022. It is the lowest monthly sales total for Colorado since November 2018.
Colorado in March also released the state’s Average Market Rates for retail marijuana, effective for the quarter beginning April 1. Bud allocated for extraction was the only category that saw an increase this quarter, up to $405 per pound from $350 last quarter.
Four of the seven rates decreased this quarter, with bud falling $9 per pound to $649, its lowest point ever. This is the sixth consecutive quarter the AMR on bud per pound has dropped following a pandemic high of $1,721 per pound in January 2021.
Trim allocated for extraction also dropped to an all-time low of $51 per pound (down from $61) while the wet, whole plant rate fell to $81 per pound (down from $101) and seeds dropped a dollar each to $8 per, also a record. The rates for trim ($253) and immature plants ($13) stayed the same.
The average market rate is the median market price of each category of unprocessed retail marijuana that is sold or transferred from retail marijuana cultivation facilities to retail marijuana product manufacturing facilities or retail marijuana stores. The rates are used to calculate excise taxes.
January’s sales totals resulted in approximately $24.8 million in tax revenue for the state, bringing the yearly total to $47.1 million and the all-time tax revenue collected to nearly $2.4 billion.
— Brian Beckley