When legal marijuana went on sale in Washington last summer, the prices were astronomically high. There was not enough supply to go around, there was a lot of hype in the air because marijuana was going to be sold legally for recreational purposes for the first time on the West Coast, and marijuana stores took advantage of the situation. People were paying $100+ for an eighth of marijuana. My how things have changed since then.
The average price for recreational marijuana in Washington has fallen to $12 per gram. With reports that there is a surplus of over 46,000 pounds of recreational marijuana in Washington State right now, I’d expect that number to stay the same, or drop even further. Per The Joint Blog:
The price of legal recreational cannabis has dropped significantly in recent months in Washington, according to new data released by the state’s Liquor Control Board.
According to the Board, the average price of recreational cannabis throughout the state is $12 a gram. When sales began in July, average prices were near $30 a gram.
The prices in Washington State are still too high. Even with prices falling over 50%, the prices are still more than twice as high as they are on the black market. The black market will never be eliminated at that rate. With that being said, a lot of stores in Washington are barely scrapping by because they have lowered their prices as much as they can, but due to Washington State taxes and federal 280e provisions, there’s not much left for store owners after all is said and done. Washington needs to revamp the marijuana tax structure, and the feds need to reform 280e provisions, if the marijuana industry is ever going to reach its full potential in Washington.
