One year after first legal sale, state has sold 3.5M units of cannabis products
ALBANY, N.Y. — One year after New York State’s first legal sale at a cannabis dispensary, the state has sold over 3.5 million units of cannabis products.
That’s one of the statistics the state shared on Friday about the rollout of legal weed in a year-end review. The report says nearly $16.3 million in revenue for the state’s 2023 fiscal year comes from cannabis sales. Halfway through the 2024 fiscal year, over $16.6 million comes from cannabis sales.
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In the past year, 40 licensed dispensaries have opened across the state including MJ Dispensary on Jefferson Road, the Rochester area’s first dispensary which opened in early December. The state’s cannabis market is expected to exceed $150 million in sales for 2023 once December sales reports come in.
In total, the state’s Office of Cannabis Management received over 6,900 applications – either for processing, cultivation, distribution, microbusinesses, or retail dispensaries. There were 4,324 license applications for dispensaries this year and 463 were approved.
The state also reported that it seized 1,600 pounds of unregulated cannabis products, which adds up to $56 million in street value during 369 enforcement inspections. In late November, detectives in Greece recovered over 150 pounds of unregulated cannabis.
Here are some other statistics the state highlighted:
- Cannabis Growers’ Showcases accounted for 3% of total revenue, $4.8 million
- Over 121,900 patients registered with the Medical Cannabis Program.
- OCM is providing up to $50,000 in grant support for eligible TAPs to help support their efforts assisting applicants in the recent application window.
- The state held over 17 Cannabis Equity Roundtables to present the Social & Economic Equity Plan to advocates, municipalities, elected officials and interagency working groups.