Many states have been posting record-breaking marijuana sales numbers despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Colorado, as well as Illinois and Oregon, have all maintained record-breaking sales numbers. According to Denver alt-weekly Westword, Colorado’s marijuana shops have sold over $192 million in the month of May.
The Daily Herald of Arlington Heights reported that in Illinois, the state’s cannabis stores sold $47.6 million worth of marijuana last month which represented another record. This was up from a high of $44 million in May.
In Oregon, marijuana sales totals hit $103 million in May, topping the $100 million mark for the first time, according to the Portland Business Journal.
In Colorado, dispensaries sold $192,175,937 worth of products in May, according to data from the Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. That’s up about 29% from April and an increase of 32% from May 2019.
The Division also reported that sales at both medical and recreational pot shops hit monthly all-time highs, at $42,989,322 and $149,186,615, respectively. Both the recreational and medicinal marijuana markets have sold more than $779 million in 2020 and paid more than $167 million in taxes and fees to the state.
According to Roy Bingham, co-founder and executive chairman of BSDA analytics firm, the coronavirus pandemic may have influenced sales growth. Existing marijuana consumers have been buying more each time they go to the dispensary.
“Everyone has perhaps become more used to consuming a little more,” Bingham said.
“It’s beginning to look like cannabis is anti-recession, or at least COVID-recession resistant,” Bingham said. He says Colorado has seen “spectacular growth” this year.
