Front Runner, the business intelligence software from Washington-based Tetratrak, has all sorts of great data that is incorporated into this report. Here is an excerpt from the report, which discusses pricing, a recent tax change, the number of retailers, the number of customers, product types, and demand by geography.
The story of recreational marijuana’s first fourteen months in Washington state is a story of supply and demand imbalances, with recreational price points impacted by competition from medical and black markets unfettered by high taxation and strict regulation.
By all accounts the first year of I-502 was successful, with retail sales now topping $35 million a month. Still, recreational marijuana only accounts for approximately 30% of the projected $1.3 billion industry in 2015, with the black market and medical marijuana representing the remaining 70%. I-502 retailers have tried very hard to bring the out-the-door price of the recreational marijuana down to be competitive with the black and medical markets. However, those markets remain robust, in part because they have not been handcuffed by the high taxes and cumbersome regulations put in place for I-502.
Read Brian Yauger’s and Joe Armes’ “MJ Research: The 2015 Front Runner/MJBA Washington Marijuana Retailer Report”: http://mjnewsnetwork.com/business/mj-research-the-2015-front-runnermjba-washington-marijuana-retailer-report/
