In a report released earlier this week by the state’s Department of Tax and Fee Administration, customers last year purchased about five-and-a-half billion of cannabis products – nearly a half-billion less than in 2021.
SF Gate reportsthat the drop in legal pot sales comes at a time when the industry faces increased competition from the illegal market, falling wholesale prices and lengthy delays for licensing across various counties, which has stalled the opening of about 700 additional stores.
In an email to SF Gate, Hirsh Jain, the vice chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, warned that “the state’s legal market is on the brink of collapse.”
When the state legalized marijuana in 2018, sales rose from nearly $2 billion to more than five-and-a-half billion three years later. But the market appears to have plateaued in recent years.
The drop in California’s legal pot revenue follows a similar pattern in other states that have legalized marijuana, including Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.
