Arizona medical marijuana sales have been spiking ever since the demise of Proposition 205, and prices are dropping as competition and cultivation increase. A consolidation of medical marijuana dispensaries in the state is also causing a disruption.
Medical marijuana sales in 2016 totaled $367 million, according to East Valley Tribune. This also sets the course for sales to increase to $681 million by 2020. The data was compiled by New Frontier Data.
Harvest Dispensaries CEO Steve White said, “We have already seen price declines and increased competition. Market consolidation is likely next.”
Lilach Power, co-owner of The Giving Tree Wellness Center, said, “We have seen a number of licenses consolidating. We have seen more dispensaries opening in Maricopa County – some are new licenses, some have moved from other areas of Arizona. But overall it’s a market of small local operators.”
New Frontier Data determined that if Prop 205 would have passed, the Arizona retail and medical marijuana markets combined would have been near $1.2 billion by 2020.
Giadha DeCarcer, New Frontier’s founder and CEO said, “Now, they must begin planning for a period of steep price declines, license holder consolidation, and intense competition in the market.”
The Giving Tree Wellness Center is working on a new cultivation facility in Northern Arizona. This will increase production, and prices are likely to drop much more as more growers produce larger amounts of product.
White also said, “In four years, when Arizonans see the sky hasn’t fallen in all of the states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and that we are missing out on significant tax revenue, the result will be very different.”
Power believes the next effort to legalize recreational marijuana will pass. She said, “I have no doubt it will pass when it comes around on the ballot again. I am confident that voters will be a lot less fearful of this plant the next time.”