The first legal purchase of adult-use cannabis in New Jersey occurred on April 21, 2022. Since that time, New Jersey’s cannabis industry has increased in size and value to a considerable extent. In addition to recreational sales, New Jersey also permits medical cannabis sales.
“In 2023, New Jersey saw cannabis sales of more than $800 million. With new local cultivators and manufacturers beginning operations, we expect to reach $1 billion in 2024. Ancillary services like accounting, marketing, construction, security, legal services, and real estate that support the industry may generate $1.5 to $2 billion in taxable revenue for opted-in municipalities.” the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission stated in a news release that celebrated the two year anniversary of recreational sales in the state.
While New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis industry continues to grow, the state’s registered medical cannabis patient base continues to decline, which is a common phenomenon among states that launched a medical cannabis industry prior to the state legalizing adult-use sales.
“As of April 15, around 80,000 medical patients remain in the state’s medical cannabis program, which began in January 2010. Enrollment peaked in May 2022 at more than 129,000 people, before steadily dropping amid the opening of recreational cannabis stores, according to state data. Sales of medical marijuana have also plummeted, with about $226 million in sales in 2022, compared to $124 million in 2023. And recreational sales brought in over $675 million last year—almost five times as much revenue as medicinal, state data shows.” Marijuana Moment reported in its original coverage of New Jersey’s medical cannabis industry.
New Jersey’s 130 licensed adult-use cannabis dispensaries sold roughly $201 million in recreational cannabis sales during the first three months of 2024, about 4.4% more than what was sold during the last quarter of 2023. Legal recreational cannabis sales totaled $192.6 million in New Jersey during the last quarter of 2023.
“New Jersey’s recreational cannabis market sales for the first quarter of 2024 totaled more than $201 million — a 38% increase compared to the same period last year. Sales from January to March 2023 were generated by 24 licensed dispensaries, whereas that number increased by 96, to a total of 130 licensed dispensaries, in the same time period in 2024.” the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission stated in a recent press release.
“The significant growth in sales year over year is an indication of the strong potential of New Jersey’s cannabis market,” said Jeff Brown, New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s executive director. “We anticipate that as even more dispensaries open across the state, new brands are introduced to the market, and cannabis becomes less stigmatized, sales numbers will continue to go up.”
“Recreational cannabis sales also hit historical highs the weekend of the cannabis holiday 4/20. On Friday, April 19, New Jerseyans bought $4,028,365 in recreational cannabis flower and other products, then topped that figure on Saturday, April 20 with another $5,219,294. Including Sunday’s recreational sales and medicinal sales for all three days, the weekend closed out with approximately $12.5 million, the weekend closed out with approximately $12.5 million in recreational and medicinal cannabis sales.” the government press release also stated.
Total legal cannabis sales in the United States are expected to reach $31.4 billion in 2024 according to a recent analysis by Whitney Economics. Additionally, leading cannabis jobs platform Vangst, in conjunction with Whitney Economics, estimates that the legal cannabis industry now supports 440,445 full time-equivalent cannabis jobs in the United States.
Whitney Economics also projects the following legal cannabis sales figures in the United States for the coming years:
- 2024: $31.4 billion (9.1% growth from 2023)
- 2025: $35.2 billion (12.1% growth from 2024)
- 2030: $67.2 billion
- 2035: $87.0 billion
The emerging legal cannabis industry in the United States is projected to add roughly $112 billion to the nation’s economy in 2024 according to a newly released analysis by MJBiz Daily. The projection is part of the company’s 2024 MJBiz Factbook.
“The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year,” MJBiz stated in its initial reporting.