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External Key Players
Despite the recent announcement by the Attorney General of the United States, Jeff Sessions, and the pending decision to rescind the Cole Memorandum, most remain optimistic about the opportunities that exist in the United States. An excellent statement in a Nutritional High press release on January 5th reads:
“we believe that tighter controls will be to the advantage of corporations like Nutritional High who are committed to following the regulations and guidelines set forth by the states in which we operate or have investments in. As such, we feel that the legal cannabis market will continue to grow and move forward in states that have legalized medical and adult use.”
Hard to argue that point. Seems to draw some parallel to the way laws are enforced in Canada.
In 2017, Colorado has consistently seen sales above the $100 million mark for twelve straight months in overall cannabis sales. However, the marijuana industry in Colorado is said to have neared a plateau and should expect a deceleration in growth rates. That doesn’t mean that sales will decline, however. New Frontier Data, a cannabis analytics group, reported that strong demand for expensive concentrates and edibles have more than offset the decline in cannabis patients. In an insightful article written by Alicia Wallace for The Cannabis, entitled “Monthly marijuana sales of $100 million the ‘new norm’ in Colorado”, it reports that cannabis consumers have shifted from the traditional dried marijuana flower to infused edibles and concentrates. New Frontier Data research found that demand for concentrates, edibles and other infused products has been strong in states with legal cannabis, despite a drop in recreational demand for flower (85 percent in January 2016 vs. 64 percent in December 2016).
In Maine, over $2 million worth of edibles were sold in 2016, up from $1.2 million in 2015. This accounts for 7.4 percent of Maine’s $26.8 million in total sales reported by Maine’s licensed producers of medical marijuana. In 2018, edibles are expected to account for 20 percent of the total market. Edibles are the fastest growing segment of Maine’s medical marijuana market. Part of the reason for this is given to the new innovative extraction processes, that allow for smaller more precise dosing than what was available in the past. This is becoming more and more important since doctors are likely to prescribe smaller doses for their patients than they can get with a