Colorado has sold over $15 billion worth of cannabis since legalization

The Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) released its monthly report on cannabis sales for August—the most recent month for which data is available—which shows that sales of cannabis for adult and medical use have exceeded $15 billion since Start of legal cannabis sales in 2014.

These sales peaked during the pandemic and have been on a downward trend ever since.

Data shows that sales of cannabis for adult and medical use in Colorado totaled $15,028,995,376. Since 2016, the state has sold between $1 billion and $2 billion worth of cannabis each year. However, due to oversupply issues that have ultimately led to lower prices, Colorado’s sales in 2023 are expected to be lower than in previous years.

Sales are still up compared to when the market launched in 2014, but they have fallen sharply since reaching their peak during the pandemic.

Colorado's cannabis market sold nearly $2.2 billion in 2020 and more than 2.2 billion dollars in 2021, as many residents were forced to remain in quarantine at home.

Unless cannabis sales rebound in the third quarter of 2023, full-year cannabis sales could fall short of those in 2022, when Colorado cannabis companies sold $1.7 billion worth of cannabis, matching 2019 sales. As of the end of August, year-to-date sales stood at just over $1 billion.

Denver, the state's largest market

In Colorado’s largest city and capital, as well as in the corresponding county, the decline in sales has been very pronounced. A report released in July by the City and County of Denver shows a 22% decline in annual revenue from cannabis sales between 2021 and 2022, marking the sharpest annual decline since legalization began.

«In 2021, 31 % of Colorado’s total cannabis sales took place in the City and County of Denver,» according to a 2022 report on municipal cannabis management. «From 2014 to 2021, the share of cannabis sales in Denver relative to Colorado’s total cannabis sales fell by 17 %, from 48 % to 31 %. This downward trend, which has been consistent since the implementation of retail cannabis sales in 2014, indicates that cannabis sales outside the City and County of Denver have grown faster than those within the city.»

A recent report by Denver Post analyzes the impact of the post-pandemic cannabis industry in Colorado. «The market is just bad. It’s bad right now,» said Val Tonazzi, a cannabis retailer, at Denver Post. «Businesses are closing left and right.»

Inflation could also be a factor, as consumers are inevitably cutting back on purchases of expensive items, explained Truman Bradley of the Marijuana Industry Group, to the local media 9 News.

«The ripple effect on employees and customers cannot be overstated either,» he said. «If cannabis sales decline, tax revenue declines as well.»