Illinois Cannabis Sales Flatten For First Time Since Coronavirus

For the first month since the start of coronavirus pandemic, recreational marijuana sales in Illinois last month did not set a new record, according to state regulators.

Illinois cannabis dispensary patrons purchased about 1,000 fewer items in November than the month before, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Overall, pre-tax sales declined by more than $78,800 last month, even as out-of-state pot purchasers bought $93,000 more worth of adult-use cannabis products than they did in October.

Under state law, residents are allowed to legally buy or possess the equivalent of up to 30 grams of marijuana flower. Those without an Illinois ID can only have half that amount.

Sales data shows about twice as much adult-use cannabis was sold last month than at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when the cannabis industry was declared "essential" amid Pritzker's stay at home order.

Medical cannabis sales in Illinois have also increased. Total retail sales by medical dispensaries exceeded $331 million in the first 11 months of the year, compared to about $251 million in all of 2019.

Last month, there were over 9,200 additional medical marijuana patients who purchased cannabis as there were a year earlier, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Overall medical patient registration is up by more than 48 percent from the start of the year to a total of nearly 146,000 patients in December.

According to a Harris Poll conducted in October, more than 40 percent of adults who have previously consumed cannabis have either started or increased their level of consumption since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The top three reasons: to reduce stress and anxiety, to relax and to help them sleep.

Among all respondents aged 21 and over who consume cannabis, 45 percent said they have reduced or replaced their alcohol consumption with marijuana, according to the online survey, which was conducted on behalf of Curaleaf, a publicly traded cannabis corporation that bills itself as the world's largest cannabis company by revenue.

The shift from alcohol to cannabis was even more pronounced for parents of young children. According to a summary of the poll, 57 percent of parents of kids under 18 who had even consumed cannabis before have cut down on alcohol in favor of cannabis or replaced altogether since the emergence of COVID-19. It also found parents were more likely to consume cannabis for primary medical uses.

"Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen an increase in new consumers at our dispensaries with more people exploring cannabis," Curaleaf President Joe Bayern said in a statement. "The liberalization of the plant – and the increasing diversity among consumers who enjoy it – will continue as the general public become more interested in incorporating cannabis in their health and wellness routines."

Over the summer, Curaleaf closed on its purchase of Grassroots Cannabis for $75 million in cash and $800 million in stock in a deal that would give it control over 16 dispensaries in Illinois currently operating under the Greenhouse and Windy City Cannabis brands. Its current retail locations include medical and recreational dispensaries located in Chicago, Deerfield, Litchfield, Morris, Mokena and Skokie.

But because a single company is only permitted to own 10 dispensary licenses, six of them must be sold. According to the cannabis industry newsletter Grown In, the sales process is nearing a conclusion, with companies and investors outside the industry driving up the price.

The 2019 law that legalized adult-use marijuana in Illinois, the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, set out a timeline for Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration to issue licenses to allow new entrants into the legal marijuana business.

In an effort to diversity an industry dominated by a small number of large, multi-state corporations, lawmakers created a class of "social equity applicants" in an effort to help alleviate some of the negative effects of years of cannabis prohibition.

However, executive orders issued by Pritzker stemming from the coronavirus public health emergency — followed by a series of legal challenges to the state's application process — have curtailed much of the anticipated growth in the market. The owners of the 55 medical dispensaries licensed to operate before legalization have been left a monopoly on the recreational market.

The legalization law called for an additional 75 licenses to be awarded by the middle of 2020, and in September the state announced 21 companies were set to divvy them up between themselves via a lottery.

Applicants who missed out filed lawsuits in state and federal courts, and the Pritzker administration announced a scoring review. Both remain pending.

The law also allows for 110 more licenses to be given out starting next month and calls for the state to award licenses to craft growers, infusers and transporters. None have yet been issued.