Colorado marijuana sales hit $1.3B in 2016, up 30% from year earlier

Colorado’s marijuana dispensaries and recreational stores sold $1.3 billion in products last year, up 30% from 2015 and nearly double the total in 2014 when adult-use sales began.

According to state data, last year’s sales total is up from $996.2 million in 2015 and nearly $700 million in 2014. Colorado averaged more than $100 million in sales per month last year, the Denver Post reported. Summer was particularly strong, with combined sales totaling $376.6 million in July, August and September, according to the newspaper.

But it wasn’t all good news for Colorado marijuana retailers. Prices for wholesale cannabis – both medical and rec – dropped low enough last year to keep the overall value of sales flat for at least one retailer. The Denver Post quoted Sally Vander Veer, president of Medicine Man, as saying her patient and customer numbers were up while sales were flat.

Another potential sticking point for Colorado cannabis retailers going forward will be the loss of cannabis tourism to the four states – California, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts – that legalized rec marijuana last year at the ballot box. The Colorado Tourism Office found that interest in marijuana tourism had already begun to dip in 2016, according to the Denver Post.