And for what it’s worth, June didn’t see record sales numbers as was widely reported
In good times and less good times alike, there’s a lot of money moving through the Massachusetts cannabis economy.
Its many growing pains and problems aside, the Bay State industry is a sales juggernaut. And since the money-focused mainstream media never misses a chance to make it rain, this past week saw coverage of big numbers from June.
Notably, adult-use sales hit $132.8 million, a recreational record. Combined with an additional $19 million in medical marijuana sales, the $151.8 million total is among the highest monthly sales tallies since rec shops first opened in 2018 (though not the highest combined sales to date, as was mistakenly reported by WBZ and copied by various national outlets before being flagged and fact-checked in an excellent analysis by Cannabis Business Times).
The seventh best month on record is still a noteworthy accomplishment though, even if those sales are split between a rapidly growing number of businesses. Broken down, in the past week, Mass saw the following recreational sales totals by category: flower ($12.5 million), vape products ($6.3 million), raw prerolls ($5 million), infused edibles ($4.2 million), concentrates ($1 million).
Of course, there’s plenty of bad news to go with those numbers, not to mention necessary context to consider. Glaringly, the average retail cost of one gram of flower hit a new low in June at $5.82.
Compare that to $10.58 in June 2022, and $13.94 in June 2021, and the story turns from businesses making millions to one about license holders across Mass who are barely treading water.
