Maryland Medical Cannabis Sales Surpass $1 Billion

40 months after its 2017 launch, Maryland’s medical cannabis market has reached the milestone of $1 billion in sales, the Baltimore Business Journal reports.

Quarterly sales have steadily grown from year to year in Maryland, with sales nearly doubling from $60.5 million in 2019 to $115 million in 2020. This year alone, dispensaries have raked in $135 million in the first three months, setting a pace to reach $500 million by the end of the year, according to the report.

Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC) Executive Director William Tilburg said he believes the increased number of medical cannabis patients and dispensaries have led to the growing sales figures (registered cannabis patients in Maryland grew from 87,019 to 123,376 from December 2019 to December 2020). Those impressive growth numbers were followed by another 1,959 patients signing up for medical cannabis in January, bringing Maryland’s total patient number to 125,335. Additionally, dispensary numbers have increased by about 10 percent over that same time period.

Tilburg said he believes the next billion will come much faster due to Maryland’s likely next step of legalizing adult-use cannabis sales.

Although Maryland failed to pass adult-use reforms this session, the state is nonetheless predicted to follow in the footsteps of nearby New York, New Jersey, and Virginia with a new pass on the reforms next year. If Maryland passes adult-use cannabis, cannabis market research firm BDS Analytics predicts the state could reach its next billion in sales by 2024, with recreational sales accounting for two-thirds of the total, according to the report.