Author: Andrew Long

[ad_1] The number of active U.S. cannabis business licenses continued to shrink in early 2024, according to CRB Monitor, a marijuana intelligence firm that tracks and monitors licenses in the regulated industry. Total active licenses – including those in regulated medical and recreational marijuana markets – fell 6% from the fourth quarter of 2023 and by 10% from the first quarter of last year. The latest licensing numbers mark the fifth consecutive quarter of declines; the number of business permits began shrinking in 2022. License totals declined on a year-over-year basis for the first time in 2023, when the number…

[ad_1] The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year, according to analysis from the newly released MJBiz Factbook. While the industry has experienced sales declines – especially in mature western markets – the expansion of new recreational and medical marijuana facilities in states such as Maryland, Missouri and New York continue to foster growth. With more new cannabis markets on the horizon, the industry will add upward of $200 billion in additional spending to the U.S. economy by 2030. The projections do not take into account…

[ad_1] California led the nation in hemp flower acreage and production in 2022, according to an MJBizDaily analysis of the recent Census of Agriculture report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Alameda County, California, harvested more hemp flower that year than any other U.S. county, with 5.5 million pounds. Hemp farms in California’s Central Valley – including Fresno and Tulare counties – produced nearly 20% of domestically grown floral hemp, or hemp cultivated for its cannabinoid-rich flower, in 2022. According to the USDA, more than 11 million pounds of hemp flower was produced in 2022 by 1,800 American farms covering…

[ad_1] After years of double-digit growth, active marijuana business licenses in the United States declined for the first time in 2023. That’s according to a new report by CRB Monitor, a cannabis intelligence firm in Nashville, Tennessee, that tracks and monitors licenses. Active U.S. cannabis business licenses – including those in medical and recreational marijuana markets – declined 4% from 2022 to 2023. By contrast, the number of active Canadian cannabis business licenses increased 2% during the same period. The total number of active licenses in the two countries combined had been doubling nearly every year since 2019. But signs…

[ad_1] The MJBizDaily editorial team invites business owners, executives and entrepreneurs in the marijuana and hemp sectors to participate in the 12th annual MJBiz Factbook survey. MJBizDaily is committed to delivering high-quality content that is both informative and relevant to the cannabis industry. To achieve this, we rely on the expertise and experiences of cannabis professionals to provide insights that shape our editorial direction. Owners, founders and executives of dispensaries/retail stores, commercial cultivation operations, infused product manufacturers and vertically integrated businesses as well as investors who fund cannabis companies are invited to participate in the survey. The undertaking will help…

[ad_1] With most regulated adult-use marijuana markets reporting sales numbers through November, year-over-year growth rates in 2023 varied by market age. New markets in Arizona, Illinois and Maine continued to grow – although at slower rates than in 2022 – while established markets such as Colorado and Nevada did not decline as much as they did in 2022. The slowing of year-over-year sales declines in mature markets is a promising trend, as many older cannabis markets experienced double-digit contraction in recent years. For example, Colorado recreational sales declined 16% between 2021 and 2022. Growth rates in new recreational marijuana markets…

[ad_1] (Photo by TensorSpark/stock.adobe.com) Access to recreational cannabis stores across the United States and Canada differs greatly by state and province after taking population into account. Different state-by-state regulations have created some markets that offer far fewer retail choices for consumers. Consider two states with approximately the same populations: Rhode Island and Montana. Both states have about 1.1 million people. Rhode Island, however, has only one adult-use retail cannabis store per 100,000 residents, based on March data. By contrast, cannabis consumers in Montana have 37 recreational stores to shop from per 100,000 residents. The data comes from the annual state-by-state…