Marijuana Business Factbook 2019

234 Marijuana Business Factbook 2019 Chapter 5 | Financial & Operational Data: Retailers © Copyright 2020, Marijuana Business Daily , a division of Anne Holland Ventures Inc. You may NOT copy this Factbook, or make public the data and facts contained herein, in part or in whole. For more copies or editorial permissions, contact CustomerService@MJBizDaily.com or call (720) 213-5992, ext. 1. CHART 5.07: Retailer’s Business Expectations For 2019 Overall, retailers have positive expectations for their business outlooks in 2019. Several medical marijuana markets are set for significant growth in 2019: • Illinois: In January, the state instituted the Alternative to Opioids Act, allowing residents who have been prescribed opioids to instead obtain a temporary, renewable medical marijuana card with a physician’s certification. Industry insiders expect this could add tens of thousands of new patients to the system. • Florida: The state’s patient rolls blew past 200,000 in early 2019 and are expected to continue to grow after regulators raised the number of dispensaries each license holder may operate, which will expand patient access. Florida lawmakers also ended the state’s ban on smokable flower and is expected to issue rules on edibles in the near term. The addition of these two popular products is likely to have a positive impact on sales. • Maryland: After Maryland’s first year of sales approached $100 million, the state initiated a second round of licensing in early 2019 for cultivators and processors in anticipation of continued steady growth. • Pennsylvania: The state has benefited from strong patient growth and first-year sales in excess of $130 million. This trend is expected to continue in 2019. • Ohio: The state’s medical marijuana sales, which began in early 2019, have been strong despite an absence of processing that restricted early sales to flower and high retail costs that drove some patients over the border to Michigan. Patient counts have been booming although access to dispensaries is still limited as the state works through the dispensary licensing process. In recreational states where sales growth has slowed significantly ― Colorado, Oregon and Washington ― many large retailers remain optimistic, albeit at a more moderated level, responding that “We’ll be doing a bit better” in the year ahead. It is likely that sales will plateau in these markets in the coming years ― at which point retailers will need to shift from managing their business for growth to managing for efficiency and profitability.