The first week of Oregon’s recreational marijuana industry was nothing short of a success and retailers raked in more than $11 million. This amount greatly surpassed the $5 million mark set by Colorado retailers during the first week, as well as Washington State who brought is $2 million during the first month!
Reasons for success
This success has left analysts scrambling to come up with answers that explain why Oregon was so successful. In contrast to Colorado and Washington, medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon are allowed to sell recreational marijuana.
Currently, there are more than 250 medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon selling recreational marijuana. This a huge difference when compared to Colorado and Washington who had 24 and 4 stores open respectively, at the start of the recreational marijuana industry. Today, Washington still has fewer recreational marijuana dispensaries than Oregon and the program has been open for more than one year.
Another reason for the success is due to the current regulatory environment in Oregon. Cannabis cultivators in Oregon do not face strict regulations yet and the supply can enter retail stores in a manner that is much easier than it was in Colorado and Washington.
The loose regulations have created ample supply of marijuana in Oregon. Southern Oregon also has some of the best conditions for outdoor cultivation of marijuana in the United States.
Outlook
We expect to see Oregon continue to report strong sales numbers due to the number of retail outlets and loose regulations. Our analysts will monitor how the state performs over the course of the next few months to see how the supply-demand situation holds up.
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