September Was Another Record Month For Illinois Marijuana Sales

For the fifth month in a row, Illinois is again reporting record-breaking weed sales, according to the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

A few months ago, there were some giggles and snarky comments when a regulator called Illinois' legal marijuana business "both recession and pandemic proof." Well, as it turns out, that comment was fairly accurate.

The month of September saw $50 million worth of marijuana products sold to Illinois residents, while $18 million went to out of state visitors. The total of $68 million in September sales beats last month's record of $63 million. It really does seem as though the pandemic and resulting recession have slowed down lots of facets of life--but not marijuana sales.

Since legalized sales began in January, Illinoisans and those folks who've crossed state lines have spent over $430 million. Illinois grabbed $52 million in cannabis tax revenue in the first six months since retail sales started in January.

We've still got some space between us and the State of Oregon, where Oregon officials have been witnessing a similar sales trend. Their data says that the state saw about $106 million in medical and recreational cannabis sales, marking the third month in a row that sales exceeded $100 million.

In Colorado, sales are truly booming. July saw Colorado weed sales break the $200 million mark in a single month for the very first time. In 2020, Colorado has already collected over $200 million in taxes, with sales hitting nearly $1.2 billion.