Oregon's Young Cannabis Market Already on Pace With Washington, Colorado

June 09, 2017

After Oregon’s first yr of adult-use cannabis gross sales, the state’s authorized market is already on tempo with extra established ones in Washington and Colorado, a brand new report exhibits. Controlling for inhabitants, gross sales in Oregon have carefully tracked Colorado’s and exceeded gross sales in Washington state.

That means huge cash for the state, with projected tax income through the Oregon’s first two years of operation—gross sales started in October 2015—projected to come back in at upward of $60 million.

Those robust gross sales are anticipated to proceed—after which some. Forecasts within the report, ready by state economist Josh Lehner on the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, point out the state might rake in $156 million in cannabis taxes over the subsequent two years—$80 million of which might circulation into the state’s widespread college fund.

In his report, Lehner identifies a number of explanation why Oregon’s cannabis business is already performing in addition to Colorado’s or Washington’s regardless of its considerably smaller inhabitants.

First, extra Oregonians appear to be common cannabis shoppers. Use charges from surveys present that, in comparison with Washington, a bigger share of Oregonians stated they consumed marijuana through the previous month. That’s not the one measure that issues, nonetheless, as a fair larger fee of Coloradoans are common cannabis shoppers .

Also, whereas Oregon’s cannabis costs and taxes are a lot decrease than in Washington—Oregon’s tax fee is 17%; Washington’s is 37%—that appears to have attracted extra and greater gross sales.

Oregon’s adult-use market additionally opened to important demand. Prior to the launch of authorized gross sales, knowledge present that Oregonians swarmed to retail shops in southern Washington, for instance in Vancouver, only a quick drive from Portland.

Counties within the southwest nook of Washington noticed gross sales fall by almost 40% as soon as Oregon’s adult-use gross sales started, in accordance with the report. Lehner factors out that the primary set of quarterly tax returns—a really small knowledge set, admittedly—signifies that Oregon costs had been roughly the identical as Washington’s, regardless of Oregon’s cannabis business simply getting off the bottom.

Lehner additionally observed a surge of retail shops opening in throughout the state, each in in main inhabitants facilities similar to Portland and in school cities like Eugene.

That’s backed up by our database right here at Leafly. Not solely are retail shops opening at a sooner fee than in states like Washington and Colorado, however there are literally extra energetic accounts in Oregon, which has 439, than Washington, which has 379. Of the three states, nonetheless, Colorado takes the cake on that entrance, with 616.

The full report and forecasted knowledge can be found on the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis website.