Just Released! Get realistic market forecasts, state-by-state insights and benchmarks with the new 2024 MJBiz Factbook member program, now with quarterly updates. Make informed decisions. More than 1,340 illicit cannabis stores have been closed in New York, according to Gov. Kathy Horchul. (Photo by Chris Roberts for MJBizDaily/Emerald) After the rockiest of starts, the regulated marijuana market is finally coming to life in New York state.
Cannabis retailers reported $429.9 million in revenue from January through the end of August, a month that saw weekly sales surpass $20 million for the first time.
At this pace – and with an estimated 200 licensed retailers ready to open for business by the end of September – finishing 2024 with more than $1 billion in regulated marijuana sales is “within the realm of plausibility,” a top cannabis regulator told MJBizDaily last week.
“Obviously, we lost some momentum last year,” John Kagia, the state Office of Cannabis Management’s deputy director of policy, told MJBizDaily in an interview Thursday.
“I don’t want to dismiss how challenging it has been for our stakeholders in this market … but we always knew that, with enough time and with enough effort, we would get this market operational.”
“I think $1 billion is a reachable goal for this year,” Kagia concluded. Marijuana sales projections
While passing the $1 billion threshold would mark a tenfold increase over regulated marijuana sales in 2023, the figure is still well below initial sales projections for the Empire State.
New York legalized cannabis in March 2021 with bold promises to build the nation’s most equitable marijuana market, but the first sale wasn’t recorded until late December 2022.
As of Monday, there were 189 licensed retailers throughout New York state – fewer licensed marijuana stores than in Missouri, which legalized adult-use cannabis more than a year and a half after New York and has only one-third of the population.And since it could be more than a year before thousands of pending license applications are processed, regulators and critics both acknowledge much more needs to be done.“Things are definitely better now than they were in May, but it hasn’t even been […]
NY marijuana sales could pass $1 billion in 2024 after rocky start
