Montana, High In The Sky: Cannabis Sales Hit Nearly $13M In First Month

Montana's recreational cannabis market topped $12.8 million in sales in its first month, putting the state on pace to meet the projections of $130 million in sales for 2022. 

Add in January's $9.7 million in medical marijuana sales across the state, and Montana raked in $2.9 million in tax revenue from cannabis in just 31 days, according to the Montana Department of Revenue's Cannabis Control Division. The recreational market's opening weekend accounted for $1.5 million of the month's sales. 

"It feels like the start of an industry," said Bobby Long, owner of Flower, which has dispensaries in Missoula and Kalispell.

Long said sales have been consistently growing for his dispensaries week after week in the new market. 

Numbers provided by the Montana Department of Revenue show recreational cannabis sales statewide stayed roughly level through January, between $2.6 million and $2.9 million week after week, according to the Billings Gazette. 

Long complained the market was "oversaturated, overtaxed and over-regulated," but noted that his business has been battle-tested through eight years in the medical marijuana industry before recreational sales started on January 1, 2021.

"Now it feels more like a business exercise," Long said. "The revenue is coming in healthier and it allows us to do more things. … It helps buffer and maintain operations."

The Governor's Office of Budget and Program Planning last year projected $130 million in recreational sales in 2022, climbing to $195.5 million in 2023 once the moratorium on new businesses sunsets. The moratorium was installed as a way for Montana providers who have established themselves in the medical industry to stake out the recreational market before "Big Weed flocks into the market from out of state," noted the Gazette.

Photo by Nick Gardner on Unsplash