Always at the center of the debate about legalizing marijuana, the price of the flower has fluctuated immensely in the past four years. There have been convincing arguments from the stance that expensive legal products will keep the underbelly of the illicit market flourishing, and also from the stance that farmers who continually reduce prices won’t survive much longer in the business. A happy medium has yet to be found, but the search continues.
Cannabis Business Times has done a nice breakdown of where things are at in the 7 top legal markets in the country. One large factor is how mature the market is. A nascent marketplace tends to have much more expensive cannabis before it levels out after years of experience. For instance, New Jersey had an average of over $300 per ounce last year, while over in California the average was $74. There are more factors contributing (such as volume of competitors) but it’s a stark difference.
Of all the markets that have been up and running for 4 years or more, Illinois has the most expensive marijuana, at an average of $257 per ounce. As previously stated, California is cheapest at $74 per ounce with Michigan slightly more expensive at $83.
Of the newer markets, Connecticut is the most expensive ($336.10) followed by New Jersey ($336), Maryland ($272), and Ohio ($231).
The large contrast between Illinois ($257) and Michigan ($83) is interesting until you look at the amount of demand in each state. Per 100,000 citizens in Michigan there are 8.4 dispensaries. For the same amount of people in Illinois, the number of dispensaries is lower than 2.
With some more years ahead of no federal legalization, we’ll continue seeing these prices fluctuate all over the place. It’ll be interesting to see where they land.
Read the original article at Cannabis Business Times.
