The Massachusetts CCC’s report shows that between Jan. 1 and Dec. 18, 2022, the state collected $1.42 billion in adult-use sales. According to a month-by-month breakdown, sales were fairly stable with the most notable being $132.4 Million in July and $130.8M in August. The lowest sales was $110.1M in February, followed by $73 M in December.

Sales for the week leading up to December 25 reached a record high of $3.2 million Monday through Saturday. They topped out at $5.1 million on Saturday. Then, sales dropped to $4 million Dec. 18 to $3.2 million. This week was dominated by flower sales. The total reached over $11million on Monday Dec. 12. It then rose to $5.1 million on Saturday Dec. 17, and dropped to $4 million on Sunday Dec. 18.

Massachusetts became legal for adult use cannabis on November 18, 2018. The state’s gross domestic sales total of $3.9B has increased by $3.9B since that time. The state first hit $1 billion in October 2020. It then reached $2 billion in July 2021 and $3 billion by May 2022.

The total sales of medical cannabis in 2022 was $260.2million. However, a slow decline can be seen following the high-sales months March and April which brought home $24.7 million each and $24.4 million respectively. The Massachusetts CCC’s graph generally shows a decrease in sales from that point, down to $20.6 million in November, and finally $12.1 million in December.

Although gross sales of medical marijuana surpassed $929.6million in December 2018, this still represents steady overall growth from November 2018. Data on medical cannabis sales before November 2018, when the CCC assumed control of the Medical Use of Marijuana Program, is unavailable.

The cost of cannabis has declined over the four years that have passed since the legalization for adult use. The median price per gram of cannabis has been $14, except for a handful of exceptions caused by the pandemic. The price per gram dropped steadily after that, dropping to $7.76 in November 2022 and then increasing to $8.07 by November 2022. This coincides with CCC data showing the state’s history with cannabis cultivation. According to the number of cannabis plants that were harvested in November 2018, there were only 79. Then came 247.793 in November 2019, 699.938 in Nov 2020 and 1,413,311 November 2021. There was then a massive jump to 2,655,494 plants by November 2022.

According to Boston.comBrandon Pollock is the CEO of Theory Wellness. He stated that many of the cultivation facilities built in the last year have contributed to an imbalance between supply and need. “The last 12 months have been fairly drastic. I’d say on the wholesale market, prices might be down approximately 50% in one year, which is, for folks that are only on the cultivation side of the business, especially difficult,” Pollock told Boston.com.

Joseph Lekach (CEO of Apothca) also stated that the imbalance was present for quite some time. “A year and a half, two years, three years ago, it wasn’t good either. It was unbalanced to the high side, now it’s unbalanced for the low side. So this is temporarily good from a customer’s perspective,” Lekach told Boston.com. “But a lot of manufacturers and cultivators will cut costs wherever they can just to stay alive. You’re going to have an inferior product coming out. It’s a double-edged sword.”

Lekach estimated that cannabis businesses will go out of business in the next year, based on current trends. “We have no idea where the bottom is going to be. I think that there’s a lot of companies suffering because of this,” said Lekach. “I think you’re going to see a lot of companies going out of business probably next year and into 2024.”