Combined medical and adult-use cannabis sales in Colorado for 2018 have exceeded $1 billion as of August, according to the Denver Post.
August is the earliest month yet for the state to have cracked that sales milestone. The state of Colorado has collected $200 million in tax revenue from that $1 Billion as well. The state is on track to break its previous sales record of $1.5 Billion before the end of the year.
Sales growth was seen in edibles and concentrates, with nearly explosive growth in demand for the latter. Edible sales grew 13.8 percent while concentrate sales nearly doubled, growing 94.6 percent in the same time period.
Experts like Wana Brands CEO Nancy Whiteman said the growth is unsurprising. Whiteman attributes the increase in edible and concentrate sales to the changing market demographic — specifically, more women and elder people.
“I think in the early years of legalization a dominant story in the media was ‘This is not your parents’ THC. It is much stronger and you have to be careful, and I think that was off-putting for a lot of people who didn’t necessarily want that experience, but now there’s a lot more good options of them.” — Nancy Whiteman, CEO of Wana Brands
The explosive growth of the market is simmering down, however. Growth numbers in Colorado year over year are less exponential, having grown only 2.6 percent compared to the same point last year. There was 18.7 percent growth from 2016-2017.
More predictable growth or even maintenance of growth is to be expected as any market matures. What remains interesting is how consumer choices continue to move away from smoking and towards edibles and concentrates, an ongoing trend that shows no sign of slowing.
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