Brandon DunnWhile other states have opened their adult use markets to flair and fervor, Missouri’s highly anticipated launch of recreational cannabis was announced through text messages, email alerts, social media posts, and word of mouth.
But that didn’t stop consumers from coming out en masse to purchase legal weed for the first time in Missouri.
When Illinois launched recreational marijuana sales on January 1, 2020. The state did so with nearly 6 months of advance notice as to the exact day sales would begin.
In Illinois, that first day was met with queues out the door at the 37 dispensaries in the state and hours spent waiting in line. 77,000 customers made purchases totaling $3.2 million on the first day of adult use in Illinois.
When Missouri regulators notified operators last week that they may be able to begin selling as early as Friday, three days ahead of the anticipated launch date there was a mix of anxiety and trepidation.
How hard should we promote this without knowing if we will be approved in time?
What resulted was a trickle of announcements throughout the day that led to a flood with over 200 dispensaries approved to commence recreational marijuana sales by the end of the day.
In all, Missouri dispensaries sold a combined total of more than $5 million on marijuana at retail on Friday, with just over $3 million coming exclusively from adult use sales.
Saturday saw total sales numbers dip slightly, but recreational marijuana sales climbed to $3.4 million for the day.
On Sunday, dispensaries saw more than $3 million in combined sales with $2.1 million of that total coming from adult use sales.
In all, Missouri brought in more than $12.6 million in revenue from retail marijuana sales over the weekend. Comparatively, Missouri’s combined medical marijuana sales for the month of January tallied $37 million, the second-highest sales month in the history of legal marijuana sales in the state.
Totals for the first three days of consumer and medical cannabis sales are detailed in full below.
Sales for Friday, February 3, 2023, are: medical marijuana sales totaled, $1,996,590.36 and consumer sales totaled, $3,008,181.35 for a combined total of $5,004,771.71.
Sales for Saturday, February 4, 2023, are: medical marijuana sales totaled, $1,302,660.51 and consumer sales totaled, $3,332,684.03 for a combined total of $4,635,344.54.
Sales for Sunday, February 5, 2023, are: medical marijuana sales totaled, $889,813.59 and consumer sales totaled, $2,160,035.23 for a combined total of $3,049,848.82.
Total sales for February 3 through February 5, 2023, are: medical marijuana sales totaled, $4,189,064.46 and consumer sales totaled, $8,500,900.61 for a combined total of $12,689,965.07.
What do you think?