Hawaii’s medical cannabis dispensaries could earn between $12 million and $28 million during their first operating years, according to the Hawai’i Dispensary Alliance’s 2016 Industry Forecast. The group forecasts the industry could see revenues up to $80.5 million by 2018.
The predictions in the report are based on patient rosters growing from the more than 14,000 currently enrolled in the program to between 30,000 and 40,000 over the next two years. The report indicates that if the island state allows out-of-state patients access to medical cannabis, the program could generate an additional $9.6 million to $57.9 million in revenue.
“Hawai’i has the momentum right now to develop, grow, and evolve,” Christopher Garth, executive director of the alliance, said in the report. “The Hawai’i Dispensary Alliance believes that the best way forward is through the creation of a dynamic, creative, regenerative, local, world-class medical marijuana economy here in Hawai’i.”
The figures in the report are based on national medical cannabis prices and how much patients could spend at dispensaries. The alliance anticipates patients will spend between $100 and $200 per month, or $1,200 and $3,600 a year. On average, patients nationwide spend $72 per transaction at dispensaries. Under the law, patients can purchase up to one-half pound of marijuana a month, which would equal more than $2,000 in revenue, but Garth says patients buying the maximum is “unlikely.”
“And the dispensaries will not be the only ones to benefit from the growth of this industry,” Garth said in the report. “For every $1 spent in dispensaries, states with established medical marijuana industries report that $3 of additional economic value is injected into the economy at the local level.”
In April, Hawaii’s four member panel awarded eight medical marijuana licenses, allowing the approved companies to start selling cannabis as soon as July 15.
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