New Jersey Sets New Cannabis Sales Record But Growth Is Slowing

New Jersey adult-use cannabis sales continue to set new records but sales growth has started to show signs of slowing, the New Jersey Monitor reports.

Licensed cannabis dispensaries sold $201 million worth of adult-use cannabis during the first three months of 2024, a new quarterly sales record and a 38% year-over-year growth.

However, the quarterly sales record also marked only a 4.4% increase from the previous quarter, which is the lowest growth for the industry on record — and, previously, the lowest quarterly cannabis sales growth on record was the final quarter of 2023, the report said. The slowing rate suggests that the industry’s growth could be starting to plateau after two years of explosive growth.

However, it can be normal for cannabis retailers’s first-quarter sales to slump after the holidays, New Jersey CannaBusiness Association President Scott Rudder said in the report. Sales tend to pick up again around 4/20 and with the return of spring and summer, “so your second, third, and fourth quarters are usually your best quarters,” he said.

“The significant growth in sales year over year is an indication of the strong potential of New Jersey’s cannabis market. We anticipate that as even more dispensaries open across the state, new brands are introduced to the market, and cannabis becomes less stigmatized, sales numbers will continue to go up.” — Jeff Brown, executive director of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), in a statement

New Jersey launched its adult-use cannabis market in 2022 and the industry has so far struggled with high prices, making it difficult to compete with illicit sources and hemp cannabinoid products. But CRC Chair Dianna Houenou said the continued market growth was a sign that legal cannabis retail was chipping away at the unregulated market.