Maine’s marijuana market continues to demonstrate resilience, with September reporting a total of $21,275,491 in sales across 407,240 transactions.
Within these sales, $12.5 million was attributed to “usable cannabis,” $5.6 million to marijuana concentrates, and $3.1 million to “infused products.”
With September’s sales, the year-to-date total has reached an impressive $183,209,598 from 3,406,206 transactions, according to the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy.
While September’s sales were strong (around $1 million more than in September 2023), they reflected a decline from August, which set a new record with $23,951,539 in sales.
Since legalizing recreational marijuana in 2016, Maine has allowed adults aged 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces. After regulatory delays, retail outlets opened in 2020. Recreational marijuana sales are taxed at 10%, with an additional 8% excise tax on marijuana edibles, while medical marijuana is taxed at 5.5%.
When Maine distributes its marijuana tax revenue, a portion goes to administrative costs, covering the regulation of the marijuana industry by the Office of Marijuana Policy. Around 12% of the sales tax revenue from adult-use cannabis is allocated to the Adult Use Cannabis Public Health and Safety and Municipal Opt-in Fund, supporting local municipalities that allow marijuana sales. The remaining revenue primarily goes to Maine’s general fund, controlled by the state’s legislature.
Last month Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy issued its first-ever product recall after certain items from the brand Cannabis Cured failed testing for yeast and mold contamination. The recall applied to pre-rolls from the GG-4 and Portal strains, along with both pre-rolls and flower from the Jelly Donutz strain. These products were sold at retail outlets in Bangor, Carrabassett Valley, Eliot, Fairfield, Stratton, Thomaston, Damariscotta, and Northport.
