The State of Arizona Department of Health Services recently released its 2020 end-of-year report. It came as no surprise that, for the eighth year in a row, medical cannabis sales rose significantly.
According to the report, Arizonans bought 106 tons of marijuana products from dispensaries this year. Many predict that this number this will only increase in 2021, largely due to the fact that it is now legal for adults to purchase recreational marijuana in the state. This legislative change went into effect on Jan. 22, 2021.
Between recreational marijuana and medical marijuana, dispensary firms in the state plan on expanding almost three times as much cannabis this year.
Arizona Dispensaries Association executive director Sam Richard stated that while the growth in recreational cannabis in Arizona remains to be seen, some of the increase in revenue will be as a result of higher prices in the first months of recreational cannabis sales.
Regardless of the reason, the state’s medical marijuana program is stronger than that of other states that have transitioned to recreational marijuana. Richard stated that he expects many medical marijuana consumers to hold onto their cards, which will help them avoid the 16% excise tax imposed on recreational marijuana products.
Last year, the state’s medical marijuana program was extremely popular, with the population of card-holding patients growing to 295,295 as the year came to a close. This is a 34% increment over 2019’s figures. However, those numbers are only slightly higher when compared to the 25% increase between 2018–2019.
The report also shows that despite the coronavirus pandemic pushing many people in the country to consume more cannabis, alcohol and other drugs, legal cannabis sales did not grow significantly. This can be seen when the growth rate of 2019 over 2018 is 25% when compared to the 2020 growth rate of 29%. However, since 2013, the growth in dispensary sales in the state of Arizona has surpassed 4140%.
The report also showed that last year, the sale of edibles decreased, with dispensaries in the state selling edibles weighing 2.5 tons, which was a 16% reduction when compared to 2019 edible sales, which measured 2.99 tons.
The state recorded a growth in the sales of “other products,” which include vape-pen cartridges and concentrates such as shatter. In comparison with 2019 sales of “other products,” which totaled 4.6 tons, 2020 records show that 8.8 tons were sold, which more than made up for the reduction in edible sales. However, the number of caregivers who were permitted to cultivate cannabis decreased significantly, dropping from 273 to a mere seven authorized caregivers.
Away from the successes registered by the cannabis sector in Arizona, lots of companies are also thriving in this industry. For example, The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (NASDAQ: WTER) (CSE: WTER) recently entered the CBD market by unveiling several products, including salves, tinctures, gummies and capsules, under its A88CBD line.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (NASDAQ: WTER) (CSE: WTER) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://cnw.fm/WTER
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