Since the July opening of Washington’s legal marijuana shops, the market has been plagued with steep prices and product shortages. Now, six months and many more production licenses later, the market’s notoriously high prices have dropped on average 40 percent, according to a recent Bloomberg News article.
Prices now average $15 per gram, which, compared to the $25 grams widely reported during the market’s launch, is a drastic reduction. Black market prices, however, continue to undercut the legal market.
In total, the Washington recreational cannabis industry generated $65.3 million in legal marijuana sales and $16.3 million in tax revenue for the state in 2014.
The industry saw significant spikes in sales for the holidays during November and December. On December 31, retail pot shops reported a record-breaking day of sales: for New Years, Washington residents purchased $1.2 million worth of retail marijuana, which was significantly more than the previous record of $1 million, set on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Sources:
http://mmjbusinessdaily.com/wa-rec-sales-rise-5-set-daily-record-to-end-2014/
Photo Credit: taki Lau