Arizona’s cannabis marketplace suffered a loss of nearly $7 million in August, as both medical marijuana and adult-use recreational sales dropped about $3.5 million each from the previous month, according to the most recent report from the Arizona Department of Revenue.
The losses were offset, though, as ADOR revised July’s totals upward by almost $7 million.
Despite the overall reduction, total cannabis sales passed the $980 million mark the first eight months of 2022 and will likely approach, if not eclipse, 2021’s $1.4 billion before the year ends.
The medical marijuana market continued its steady decline in August, dropping to $34.1 million, a dip from the revised $37.3 million in July sales. The current decline in medical sales began in March, although totals have not come near the $71.3 million reported in July 2021 or the $73.3 million in March 2021, the largest month since recreational sales began in January of that year.
Adult-use, recreational sales have also experienced a decline since April’s record high of $81.2 million, despite a brief rebound in July. Revised July sales estimates show Arizonans purchased $78.1 million that month. In August, sales slid slightly to about $74.5 million.
September 2021 was the last time medical marijuana sales were larger than recreational. That month, ADOR reported $63.4 million in medical sales to $58.5 million in recreational sales — but every month’s reporting since then has shown the two programs…
