Marijuana Legalization Has Been Good To Illinois: Sales Reach Nearly $1B This Year

According to the new data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Illinois adult-use marijuana sales have hit $997 million so far in 2021, increasing by more than 131% from the corresponding period of 2020.

While September adult-use cannabis sales in the state declined 0.2% from August reaching $121.7 million, the figures actually show an improvement of 80% from the same month in the previous year. In total, consumers bought 2.71 million adult-use cannabis products in September alone.

This is the seventh consecutive month that recreational cannabis sales surpass $100 million in the state.

While most of the sales were made by state residents, sales to non-residents continue to grow. In September alone, in-state residents accounted for $81.69 million in sales, while out-of-state residents stocked up on $40.03 million in cannabis products. This compares to $49.8 million the in-state residents accounted for in September of 2020 and $17.86 million that came from out-of-state residents.

While these figures don’t count sales of medical cannabis, the Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that the number of patients signed up for medical cannabis grew by 30% in the past year, while their cited reasons for doing so continue to evolve. 

Chronic pain, accounting for 31% of patients, and post-traumatic stress disorder at 16%, are the most common reasons cited for medical cannabis, followed by migraines and osteoarthritis at 10% each and cancer at 5%.

Apart from verifiable medical reasons, MMJ patients often admit that their main reason for getting a medical card is to avoid paying Illinois' high taxes on recreational cannabis, which run near 30% or more - among the highest in the country.

Photo: Courtesy of Ndispensable on Unsplash