The Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration released the October sales report for their legal medical market. The report shows a rebound to normal if not still disappointing numbers by the market. September sales had shown a severe downturn in profits, but October was able to rise above the shadows and show some sprinkles of hope with a total revenue of $4.5 million.
D.C.’s legal medical market has continued to struggle to return to profits seen before Maryland’s adult-use market launched. Despite a market expansion and laws to make patients able to register with more ease as medical patients, D.C.’s market has continued to struggle to grow.
The bits of hope came in the rise of registered patients. Registered patients rose by almost 1,000 and patients served rose by almost 1,000 too, signifying a potential new group of registered customers that are shopping in D.C.’s legal medical market.
Overall sales rose by over $600,000 in October from the previous month. The total medical market sales in October were the third highest in 2024. The increase in October sales shows hope for D.C.’s beleaguered cannabis market. But compared to October 2023, last month’s sales dragged slightly despite this year’s market expansion of a few new shops.
D.C. has struggled to attract new patients due to Maryland’s legal adult use market and the District’s many “gifting” I-71 dispensaries. In the past months, ABCA has increased enforcement against “gifting” shops though it is not clear whether this will directly affect legal market sales.
October in short
- 386 lbs of cannabis flower were sold in October which accounted for most of the rise in retail sales by medical dispensaries.
- All other products oscillated slightly higher or lower in sales.
- The most patients this year were served in October a total of 12,736.
- Cultivation center sales almost doubled from September, but manufacturer sales still remained lower than August.
- There were three inspections completed and no cannabis destroyed in October
- There are close to 3,000 patient registrations expiring in the next three months.
- The top states for out of state patient registration were once again Maryland, Virginia and Florida. There was a noticeable increase in temporary patient registrations from Virginia.
