Illinois adult-use marijuana sales rebound with second-best month

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Illinois adult-use marijuana sales totaled nearly $131 million in March, halting a two-month slide.

Nearly a third of the sales – $40.6 million – went to out-of-state residents, according to Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation data.

March sales in Illinois were the second-highest on record since the state launched its recreational marijuana program in January 2020

The highest sales month came in December 2021, when transactions totaled $137.9 million, according to The Edwardsville Intelligencer.

Sales declined in January and February of this year to $117 million and $114 million, respectively.

For all of 2021, Illinois posted nearly $1.4 billion in recreational marijuana sales, with $436.2 million coming from out-of-state customers.

The 2022 MJBiz Factbook projects that recreational marijuana sales in Illinois could reach $1.9 billion to $2.3 billion this year.

The state’s adult-use industry has been dominated by legacy medical marijuana operators as litigation stalled new licensing, including for the state’s ballyhooed social equity program.

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Illinois regulators last year awarded a round of craft grower and infuser licenses, and a judge recently cleared the way for an additional 60 craft cultivation licenses to be issued.

But roughly 185 retail licenses are tied up in litigation.