For the first time ever, sales of legal marijuana in Oregon have declined.
Figures from the Oregon Liquor & Cannabis Commission show that the statewide sales of marijuana for the year 2022 failed to reach $1 billion, stalling out at just under $992 million. This represents a year-to-year decline of over $189 million from 2021’s total of 1.18 billion.
A look at 2022’s monthly figures tells us that the rolling six-month average (used to smooth out the seasonal changes) shows a steady decline since summer of 2021.
Contributing to the decline in marijuana sales is a continuing decline in the wholesale value of marijuana itself. In July 2021, cannabis farmers were fetching nearly $1,300 per pound of processed marijuana. By December 2021, that pound price had fallen to just under $950. Now the price is down to $550.
Sales of marijuana continue to be greatest in Portland. Unsurprisingly, Its county, Multnomah, makes up almost a quarter (24%) of all marijuana sales in Oregon.
However, for the first time, in 2022 the second-greatest sales of marijuana in the state (10.5%) are occurring 374 miles away in the tiny rural town of Ontario. It’s the only city in the nearly 10,000-square mile Malheur County that allows for marijuana sales.
It’s also just across the Oregon/Idaho border from the 750,000 Idahoans who live in the Boise Metropolitan Area. It’s an open secret that 90 percent of all marijuana sales in Ontario are to Idahoans.
But even in Ontario, marijuana sales have declined for the first time. Sales are down from $111 million in 2021 to $104 million in 2022, dropping Ontario’s monthly sales average down almost $600,000 to $8.6 million.
