Colorado's Q1 Cannabis Sales Figures Reveal Continued Cannibalization Of Medical Markets

Colorado released its March cannabis sales data Wednesday, and GreenWave Advisors shared some first-quarter data from the Centennial State with Benzinga. 

Implied retail marijuana revenues increased by 6 percent year-over-year to $378 million.

As has been evident for the past several quarters, recreational cannabis continues to disrupt the medical marijuana market. In Colorado, medical sales fell by 11 percent over the first quarter to $74.6 million. Recreational cannabis sales rose by 11 percent to $303.5 million.

Matt Karnes, founder and managing partner of GreenWave Advisors, predicted this would happen in a Benzinga article more than two years ago.

The cardholder count and average patient spend per month remained relatively stable at approximately 86,000 patients spending an average $285 per month.

Average monthly revenue per dispensary in the first quarter was about $55,000 for medical stores and $170,000 for recreational shops. These numbers fell generally in line with the first quarter of 2018. 

Karnes reiterated his view that the Colorado market has reached maturity.

“Given the redundancies and inefficiencies in regulating two separate markets, we believe it likely that the medical and recreational markets in Colorado will soon consolidate as we have observed in all other fully legal states." 

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Photo by Javier Hasse.