In November 2022, Maryland voters approved the state’s adult-use legalization law. Later, in the spring of 2023, Maryland’s Legislature passed the accompanying Cannabis Reform Act (H.B. 556/S.B. 516). The measure took effect on May 3, 2023.
Adult-use cannabis sales began on July 1, 2023 in Maryland, with adult-use cannabis products being subjected to a 9% sales and use tax, which is the same rate that applies to the sale of alcoholic beverages in Maryland.
“During the first two quarters of fiscal year 2024, Frederick County received roughly $1.1 million in Community Reinvestment and Repair money, according to a fiscal and policy note submitted with a council bill to establish a separate fund for those dollars.” The Frederick News-Post stated in its original reporting about Frederick County, Maryland.
“Of that amount, $854,236 was generated through conversion fees, which are paid to the state by cannabis dispensaries looking to transition from medical to recreational sales.” The Frederick News-Post also reported. “The remaining $263,668 was generated through the state’s sales and use tax on cannabis, which is 9% of the purchase price of any product sold for recreational use.”
According to updated data on the Maryland Cannabis Administration’s sales dashboard, the state’s legal cannabis industry sold $92,291,643 worth of medical and adult-use cannabis products in April 2024. The sales total was down from $95,956,410 in March 2024.
Maryland’s legal medical cannabis sales were roughly $30 million in April 2024, with adult-use cannabis sales making up the remainder of the April 2024 total. By comparison, medical cannabis sales were roughly $32 million in March 2024.
Cannabis flower dominated Maryland’s legal cannabis sales, with flower accounting for a combined $56 million of April’s sales total ($40 million from adult-use sales, and $16 million from medical sales).
Concentrates and oils, including vape pen cartridges, made up a combined $25 million in sales in April ($16 million from adult-use sales, and $9 million from medical sales). Edible sales totaled $12 million in Maryland in April 2024 ($7 million from adult-use sales, and $5 million from medical sales).
The United States adult-use cannabis industry has generated over $20 billion in total tax revenue since the first legal recreational cannabis purchase was made in Colorado on January 1st, 2014 according to a report by the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Through the first quarter of 2024, states have reported a combined total of more than $20 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales. In 2023 alone, legalization states generated more than $4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year.” the Marijuana Policy Project stated in a press release.
79% of people living in the United States lived in a county with at least one regulated cannabis dispensary according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center also found the following:
- 74% of people in the U.S. live in a state where recreational or medical cannabis is legal
- There are nearly 15,000 cannabis dispensaries in the U.S.
- California has the most overall dispensaries (3,659)
- Oklahoma has the most dispensaries per capita (36 dispensaries for every 100,000 residents)
Total legal cannabis sales in the United States are expected to reach $31.4 billion in 2024 according to a recent analysis by Whitney Economics. Additionally, leading cannabis jobs platform Vangst, in conjunction with Whitney Economics, estimates that the legal cannabis industry now supports 440,445 full time-equivalent cannabis jobs in the United States.
Whitney Economics also projects the following legal cannabis sales figures in the United States for the coming years:
- 2024: $31.4 billion (9.1% growth from 2023)
- 2025: $35.2 billion (12.1% growth from 2024)
- 2030: $67.2 billion
- 2035: $87.0 billion
The emerging legal cannabis industry in the United States is projected to add roughly $112 billion to the nation’s economy in 2024 according to an analysis by MJBiz Daily. The projection is part of the company’s 2024 MJBiz Factbook.
“The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year,” MJBiz stated in its initial reporting.