Illinois Sets 2023 Marijuana Sales Record With $140 Million In Recreational Purchases In July

Illinois retailers sold $140 million worth of recreational marijuana products in July—the strongest sales of the year and second highest monthly total for the state since the adult-use market launched in 2020.

The state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (DFPR) released the sales figures on Thursday, showing that people purchased 3,580,946 adult-use cannabis products last month for a total of $140,048,722.

The bulk of the sales came from in-state residents ($104,256,118), with out-of-state visitors accounting for $35,792,604 in recreational marijuana purchases. Medical cannabis sales are reported separately by a different Illinois state agency.

According to a recent fiscal analysis, a good chunk of those visitor cannabis dollars likely came from Wisconsin, which officially became an island of prohibition in the region this week after Minnesota’s legalization law went into effect.

The only month that Illinois saw higher sales since opening its market was December 2022, when $143,899,826 worth of cannabis was sold. For all of 2022, the state’s marijuana sales reached a record high of more than $1.5 billion.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has also taken steps to further support the state’s marijuana industry, including by signing a budget bill in June that includes provisions to allow licensed cannabis businesses to take state tax deductions that they’re currently prohibited from utilizing at the federal level due to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.

The governor also said in February that the state’s marijuana legalization law has created more than 30,000 jobs since launching in 2020.

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With respect to sales, Illinois is one of several states that’s experiencing a surge of marijuana purchases this summer.

For example, Maryland legal marijuana sales reached a record high of $87.4 million in July, the first month since the recreational market launched, state data shows.

Missouri has been selling about $4 million worth of marijuana per day on average since the state’s adult-use market opened up in February—and the state saw a record $121.2 million in cannabis purchases in June.

Michigan marijuana sales reached a record of nearly $261 million in June, state data shows.

Massachusetts marijuana sales reached nearly $152 million in June—a record monthly high since the state’s adult-use market launched in November 2018.

Connecticut also saw record high marijuana sales in June, at $24 million for the sixth months since the opening of the state’s recreational industry.

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