Complete hashish gross sales handed the $980 million mark the primary eight months of 2022,
By David Abbott, Arizona Mirror
Arizona’s hashish market suffered a lack of practically $7 million in August, as each medical marijuana and adult-use leisure gross sales dropped about $3.5 million every from the earlier month, in keeping with the newest report from the Arizona Division of Income.
The losses had been offset, although, as ADOR revised July’s totals upward by virtually $7 million.
Regardless of the general discount, complete hashish gross sales handed the $980 million mark the primary eight months of 2022 and can possible method, if not eclipse, 2021’s $1.4 billion earlier than the 12 months ends.
The medical marijuana market continued its regular decline in August, dropping to $34.1 million, a dip from the revised $37.3 million in July gross sales. The present decline in medical gross sales started in March, though totals haven’t come close to the $71.3 million reported in July 2021 or the $73.3 million in March 2021, the biggest month since leisure gross sales started in January of that 12 months.
Grownup-use, leisure gross sales have additionally skilled a decline since April’s report excessive of $81.2 million, regardless of a quick rebound in July. Revised July gross sales estimates present Arizonans bought $78.1 million that month. In August, gross sales slid barely to about $74.5 million.
September 2021 was the final time medical marijuana gross sales had been bigger than leisure. That month, ADOR reported $63.4 million in medical gross sales to $58.5 million in leisure gross sales—however each month’s reporting since then has proven the 2 applications going reverse instructions.
In October 2021, medical gross sales had been about $65.1 million—the final month-over-month enhance—and leisure gross sales had been $65.6 million. Since then, the applications have charted dramatically completely different trajectories, with the leisure program now outperforming medical gross sales by greater than $40 million.
Complete tax revenues for medical and leisure gross sales for August had been weighed in at about $20.5 million, with about $11.9 million from the 16 % marijuana excise tax imposed on leisure gross sales. July numbers had been revised upward to a complete of about $21.8 with about $12.5 million from the excise tax.
Taxes are divided and disbursed by the voter-approved Proposition 207.
One-third of taxes collected are devoted to group school and provisional group school districts; 31 % to public security—police, hearth departments, hearth districts, first responders—25 % to the Arizona Freeway Consumer Income Fund, and 10 % to the justice reinvestment fund, devoted to offering public well being providers, counseling, job coaching and different social providers for communities which were adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests and criminalization.
Whereas the ADOR points month-to-month reviews on hashish gross sales and tax collections, the Arizona Division of Well being Providers releases month-to-month reports on the medical marijuana program that features gross sales by the pound in addition to the variety of qualifying sufferers within the state.
The ADHS reviews are one month forward of the ADOR monetary reviews, so the medical reviews provide a glimpse of what’s prone to are available in medical marijuana gross sales.
The September ADHS report exhibits the persevering with decline in participation and gross sales for Arizona’s medical marijuana program. From August to September, the variety of cardholders within the state dropped from 144,678 to 136,010. In June, the variety of energetic cardholders was 191,682.
Since January, when sufferers bought 9,273 kilos by way of practically 600,000 transactions, medical marijuana poundage bought by September has dropped practically half to five,061 kilos.
Arizona voters authorised adult-use leisure marijuana in 2020 with the passage of Prop 207, the Good and Secure Arizona Act. The medical marijuana market started in 2012, within the wake of the passage of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in 2010.
This story was first published by Arizona Mirror.
Photograph courtesy of Brian Shamblen.