Colorado Weed Prices Reach a Sad New Low

Colorado has hit a new low in retail weed prices.

According to the state Department of Revenue, the median price per pound for retail marijuana as of Monday, March 9, is $608. That’s the lowest median price point recorded since the state began tracking legal weed prices in 2014, and 6.3 percent less than the previous record of $648, set last December.

An eighth of cannabis flower can purchased for as little as $8 in Denver, where $80 ounces are becoming a regularity. However, such cheap cannabis prices are often a sign of declining quality, according to growers.

“People are going do whatever they can to keep surviving, which probably means they’re cutting more corners with automation, cheaper nutrients and more focus on yield and THC potency. It’s all about getting more for less,” says Malek Noueiry, founder of Malek’s Premium Cannabis. “But they’re not necessarily focusing on quality, and getting more for less usually isn’t how life works.”

Race to the Bottom

Cannabis business owners point to a sustained oversupply on the market since 2021, when COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were still in place. Colorado’s cannabis market has been in bust mode ever since, with a sharp decline in annual dispensary sales, wholesale prices and registered growers.

According to the DOR, wholesale cannabis prices have dropped over 65 percent since 2021, while the number of registered growers has dropped by almost 40 percent. And from 2021 to 2025, annual dispensary sales dropped over 40 percent, from more than $2.2 billion to around $1.3 billion.

The race to the bottom can be felt on the wholesale and retail side, with a small handful of top-tier brands with higher pricing and a flood of bulk producers chasing the cheapest price tags, because that’s what many dispensaries are pushing for, Noueiry says.

“I think it’s supply and demand, mixed with overproduction,” he explains. “Essentially, dispensaries are bullying around producers who are not doing well or on the verge of going out of business, and this leads to cutting corners. The consumer largely doesn’t care. They want big buds that are cheap and test high in THC.”

Closings and Consolidation

Several notable cannabis brands and chains have shut down or left Colorado as prices and sales fall, and others have accepted to buyouts. Native Roots, currently tied with LivWell Enlightened Health as Colorado’s largest dispensary chain, at 21 locations, agreed to a buyout from equity firm Verdant Capital last week.

There have also been reports of lawsuits and disputes over unpaid invoices by dispensaries during Colorado’s market decline. The Marijuana Enforcement Division sent a memo in 2023 asking dispensaries to pay their vendors in a more timely manner, but Noueiry and others say vendors are still left waiting for payments.

“I think everyone is just struggling right now. They’re all trying to make ends meet, which leads to people fucking each other over, sadly,” says Kayne Perry, founder of pre-roll brand Red Roots Rolling Co. “People will almost always be happier with cheaper product, but this is just driving everything down. Low prices are great for consumers, but they’re terrible for growers.”

Perry specializes is making deluxe pre-rolls, called hash holes, that are larger than average joints and filled with hash rosin. He says he could easily buy pounds of small flower buds, known as popcorn, for $200 to $300 a pound for his hash holes, but he prefers to use better flower — and even that is just around $800, he notes, which is a long way from the high point during the pandemic.

“All of these companies are getting absorbed. There has been a lot of consolidation, and when they do that, I guess it gives them a little leverage on price,” Perry says. “But the price is already so far down. How much further can it really go?”