NJ records $800M in cannabis sales for 2023
New Jersey’s legalized market for recreational cannabis ended 2023 on a very high note. Last year, the state clocked a record $191.9 million in revenue between October and December.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission recorded a 8% increase from the $176.9 million in adult-use revenue generated from July through September. After receipts for medicinal cannabis factor in, sales amounted to $220.4 million for the latest period. That brings New Jersey’s total legal market value for the year to $800.2 million, the state said.
With more than 100 licensed dispensaries open in 20 of the state’s 21 counties, CRC Executive Director Jeff Brown is confident the market will eclipse the $1 billion point this year.
“After having just 12 alternative treatment centers for more than eight years, we have seen a proliferation of businesses in the last two that clearly demonstrates consumer demand and the potential of the cannabis industry in New Jersey,” Brown recently said. “There is every indication that the overall sales amount will rise this year and next.”
By the numbers
Of the 2,500 applications submitted for licenses, the CRC has approved 1,765, with the majority conditional. According to the state, 113 applications are under review in the Office of Licensing, 301 applications are pending resubmission following cure, and 194 applications are under review by the Office of Compliance & Investigations.
Among the 1,344 conditional license holders, 209 received operating licenses, according to the CRC.
Of those annual license approvals, 37% are white-owned, 19% are Asian-owned, 18% are Black-owned, 9% are Hispanic-owned, 1% are Native American-owned and 16% of owners did not identify a race or ethnicity.
Mending medical
However, dispensaries licensed to sell medicinal products pulled in $27.8 million between October and December 2023. That was down from $29.2 million in the prior quarter.
That’s a significant drop from what the medicinal market pulled in during the same period a year ago — $49.8 million. Overall, for the year, patient sales brought in $124.7 million, down from $225.9 million in 2022.
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