Colorado Marijuana Sales See Slight Rise in July

Colorado marijuana sales figures stayed flat in July, according to the state Department of Revenue, with recreational dispensary sales falling more than 10 percent year over year.

Newly released monthly sales figures from the DOR show that medical and recreational marijuana sales combined for just over $137.3 million in July. That number is slightly up from June’s dispensary sales total, but about 11 percent less than July 2022. The DOR reports collecting just over $23.2 million in tax and fees from commercial marijuana in July, which is up from June but down from last year.

After record-breaking performances during the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado’s marijuana industry experienced a surge in growers and a surplus of product. The oversupply and increased competition from states new to legal marijuana have put wholesale prices and commercial pot sales in a downward spiral across the country, particularly in Colorado, where almost 30 percent of the state’s marijuana workforce was cut from 2022 to 2023.

Still, even with lower numbers compared to last year (much less the record-high haul of 2021), Colorado’s pot industry showed some sign of improvement in July.

Medical marijuana sales, fresh off back-to-back months of record lows, saw a small bump from June to July, going from $14.6 to $16 million. Recreational sales also increased on a monthly level despite the annual decline, going from about $116.7 million in June to $121.3 million in July. Dispensary revenue typically increases from June to July before falling again in August, historical DOR data shows.

The median price for a pound of marijuana flower increased about 8.3 percent from April to July of this year, to $703, the first rise in almost two years, according to MED market rates.

Not all news is bad at the ground floor, even in harder times, notes Denver cannabis entrepreneur and hotel owner Chris Chiari. “There is growth during reduction. We’re seeing more [extractions] and edibles brought to market. There are more items being sold at lower prices, as well,” he says.

Dispensary prices are inching back up across Colorado, and so is the market share of extracted products, as Chiari points out, particularly rosin and solventless hash. According to dispensary sales analytics firm BDSA, the number of Colorado shoppers who reported smoking or vaping with rosin doubled from 2020 to 2022, and rosin holds the highest share of dabbable concentrate sales in Colorado compared to any other state.

“I think we’re going to see extractions get more and more popular. It doesn’t go bad in two months,” retail cannabis grower Anna Willey says. “With fresh flower, you have maybe a three-to-four-month lifespan, at best, and the flower has to be really good and kept well to not oxidize. With extractions, you just need a fridge.”

Although extracted products carry a higher price point than flower, hash prices have fallen in 2023 as well, according to several local dispensaries.