Though the cannabis industry is one of America's most lucrative new industries — with estimates that it will reach approximately $58 billion in sales by 2028 — the markets in several recreational states are suffering severe financial harm. In states like Oregon, the problems have gotten so out of hand that businesses are even pulling out of the state. And these problems are far from over.
California is probably the best example of such a problematic state, as I wrote last week. Last year, reports from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration showed that the California cannabis industry's total sales went down by a total of over eight percent from 2021 to 2022, which means approximately $400 million less of annual sales in a market as gargantuan as California's — at least that was the case with the legal market, which California is doing little to protect. And according to recent sales figures for 2023, it looks like the total financial loss was even more substantial. Whereas nearly $5.4 billion in total sales occurred in 2022, a full $250 million less in overall sales when compared to the already troubled year of 2022. Unfortunately though, California's problems are only a microcosm of the greater issues that the other states face or will soon face.
Oregon is not much better off. Its cannabis industry has been experiencing its own significant financial issues. Along with freefalling retail prices, Oregon's cannabis industry has experienced a very similar pattern of two consecutive years of declining sales — just like California. And although Oregon's market isn't as vast as California's, the proportionate financial losses are still just as observable.
Outright, the Oregon cannabis industry only broke $1 billion in total annual sales once, that being during the aftermath year of the pandemic that was 2021. In that year, the Oregon cannabis industry's total sales peaked at a staggering $1.2 billion. Since then, total sales have continuously and noticeably dropped throughout the state. In total, licensed cannabis retailers in Oregon sold approximately $944 million worth of cannabis products in 2023, down a considerable $39 million from 2022, which itself was already a year of declined overall sales.
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