The Colorado recreational marijuana industry is growing, and there appears to be no end in sight. It seems like almost every month there is a new record for total recreational marijuana sales, and July 2015 was no exception. The most recent numbers are in for July 2015 in Colorado, and they are staggering. Per The Cannabist:
Colorado pot sales — recreational and medical — were thriving in July 2015, the most recent month for which the Department of Revenue has released marijuana tax data.
After topping $50 million for the first time in June, recreational sales cleared the $55 million hurdle in July when sales totaled more than $56.4 million — a record for retail cannabis in Colorado. Medical marijuana sales numbers in July were also at their highest in the recreational era’s 19 months of recorded data, reaching more than $39.8 million.
In total, more than $96 million of marijuana was sold in Colorado shops in July — up from $85 million in June. For context, 2014’s most robust month of recreational and medical cannabis sales was August, when those sales totaled $67 million.
Something that I find interesting is that the medical marijuana numbers were the highest they have ever been since recreational marijuana sales started in Colorado. Colorado was able to find a way to have medical and recreational industries co-exist, and for both sectors to be successful. I hope Oregon follows suit when it starts allowing recreational marijuana sales. Recreational should not come at the expense of medical, and that’s something that the State of Colorado seems to have figured out.
