John SchroyerLast year was Colorado’s worst sales year since 2017, and 2024 isn’t off to a great start either. Colorado’s cannabis industry sold just $115.3 million for the month of January, a slight dip from December but statistically even with the previous month.
According to figures from the Colorado Department of Revenue, marijuana dispensary sales were down in January from $115.8 million in December, though up from $110 million in November.
The January total includes $100.1 million in recreational sales and another $15.2 million in medical marijuana sales.
The start to the year is probably not what insiders wanted to see, given that Colorado dispensaries sold $1.5 billion in 2023, the industry’s lowest-performing sales year since 2017.
The monthly total is also down year-over-year from $129.3 million in January 2023, when dispensaries sold $113.1 million in recreational cannabis and $16.2 million in medical marijuana.
The oldest adult-use marijuana market in the nation – which turned 10 years old on New Year’s Day – has been contracting for some time. Sales have trended downward since more neighboring states have launched medical and recreational markets of their own, including New Mexico, Utah, and Oklahoma.
New Mexico, in particular, just this month celebrated the $1 billion sales mark since its recreational market launched in 2022.
