NJ weed dispensary sales reached $2 billion over the last six years in the combined medical and adult-use cannabis market.
2024’s year-to-date sales were included in the calculations. New Jersey’s cannabis market earned $800,279,300 in medicinal and recreational cannabis sales in 2023. It also includes the 2022 adult-use cannabis sales of $555,654,794. Thus, the NJ weed dispensary market has earned more than $1.3 billion since recreational cannabis sales began in April 2022.
Thus, the New Jersey legal weed market has eclipsed $2 billion in total sales since the beginning of 2018 when Governor Phil Murphy (D) took office and began expanding the medical cannabis program and pushing for adult-use cannabis legalization.
“These are early signs of the potential of this market. Sales have grown steadily since Governor Murphy began the work to reform New Jersey’s cannabis market,” said New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) Executive Director Jeff Brown.
“If we consider medicinal cannabis sales from 2018 to 2021 before recreational sales began, cannabis sales totals exceed $2 billion over the six-year span,” he declared.
NJ Weed Dispensary Sales
Sales tax on recreational cannabis and cannabis products have resulted in almost $62 million added to the State of New Jersey’s pockets since 2022 and nearly $4 million in Social Equity and Excise Fees. The funds are supposed to be used for social equity investments, as stated by recommendations from the NJ-CRC.
The New Jersey state tax on medical cannabis was eliminated in July 2022. Some towns might still impose a local tax on it.
According to Brown, the more than 100 medicinal and recreational cannabis dispensaries across the state are expected to see more than $1 billion in sales in 2024. That does include small, local, women, and minority operators. However, large cannabis corporations that are Multi-State Operators (MSOs) and largely based elsewhere still dominate. They have multiple locations and a near monopoly or oligopoly since only a few corporations dominate flower cultivation.
Some brands brought seeds, plants, and unique formulas in their White Labeling deals with MSOs. That has put a few more products on the shelves.
A few manufacturers have entered the NJ weed dispensary market on the adult-use side. Fernway of Massachusetts, Lily Extracts of Garfield in Bergen County, and ButACake of Jersey City in Hudson County entered the market. ButACake did so with help from the MSO Columbia Care.
More locally-owned New Jersey cannabis growers and manufacturers are expected to enter the NJ weed dispensary market by June.
Bango Elyon of California was the first exclusively adult-use cultivator to enter the market.
