Maine’s adult-use cannabis industry reported more than $58 million in sales in its first year of operation. Since first opening to the public in October 2020, more than 788,000 transactions have been recorded. Friday’s update from the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy laid out sales data from the first day of sales through the end of September, about a week shy of the full year of adult-use sales. “It exceeded our expectations. We’re quite pleased with the way things have gone over the last 12 months,” said Erik Gundersen, head of Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy. Sales saw steady growth throughout the first year, setting 11 consecutive record months from October through August. September was the first month to not top the previous month’s revenue. “This is proof in the pudding that this has been a big success and people are happy about it,” said Jim Henry, CEO of the cannabis company Sweet Dirt. Sweet Dirt operated a medical cannabis program for a few years before the adult-use program came to market, opening its first recreational store in Portland in December. In that time, Henry said they have grown from a 20-employee operation to a business with more than 100 workers between their cultivation, manufacturing and retail sites. “It’s really becoming a normalized solution for people. People understand that it’s not the boogie man and they’re absolutely excited about participating,” Henry said.That normalization is key to legal cannabis’s continued success in Maine, Henry said. Ideally, he would like to see Maine-made cannabis products rise to the same level of international acclaim as other local favors, such as craft beer or blueberries. He points to innovative new product areas, like the emerging cannabis beverage industry, as another avenue for Maine’s budding cannabis economy to grow. According to state data, there are 57 active store licenses throughout the state. There are 174 license applications currently going through the review process.
Maine’s adult-use cannabis industry reported more than $58 million in sales in its first year of operation.
Since first opening to the public in October 2020, more than 788,000 transactions have been recorded.
Friday’s update from the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy laid out sales data from the first day of sales through the end of September, about a week shy of the full year of adult-use sales.
“It exceeded our expectations. We’re quite pleased with the way things have gone over the last 12 months,” said Erik Gundersen, head of Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy.
Sales saw steady growth throughout the first year, setting 11 consecutive record months from October through August. September was the first month to not top the previous month’s revenue.
“This is proof in the pudding that this has been a big success and people are happy about it,” said Jim Henry, CEO of the cannabis company Sweet Dirt.
Sweet Dirt operated a medical cannabis program for a few years before the adult-use program came to market, opening its first recreational store in Portland in December.
In that time, Henry said they have grown from a 20-employee operation to a business with more than 100 workers between their cultivation, manufacturing and retail sites.
“It’s really becoming a normalized solution for people. People understand that it’s not the boogie man and they’re absolutely excited about participating,” Henry said.
That normalization is key to legal cannabis’s continued success in Maine, Henry said. Ideally, he would like to see Maine-made cannabis products rise to the same level of international acclaim as other local favors, such as craft beer or blueberries.
He points to innovative new product areas, like the emerging cannabis beverage industry, as another avenue for Maine’s budding cannabis economy to grow.
According to state data, there are 57 active store licenses throughout the state. There are 174 license applications currently going through the review process.
