BOZEMAN - We have made it through January which means we're already one month into legal recreational marijuana sales. The Montana Department of Revenue released its sales numbers this morning. Montana brought in $12.8 million in marijuana sales for its first month.
Adam Ryder, owner of Juniper Cannabis in Bozeman and Belgrade says recreational marijuana sales were pretty much what they expected.
“Largely speaking it was about what we expected, certainly the first week was pretty intense,” says Ryder.
The first weekend alone sales topped $1.5 million. In the first full week, recreational sales were just $2.9 million. For Ryder’s downtown store location, tourism in the valley has been a driver of sales.
“We get calls daily from people either flying in that day or have just arrived”
According to the Department of Revenue, sales of recreational marijuana reached $12,851,519 in January, the state expects to rake in $2,570,303 in tax revenue. Medical Marijuana sales across Montana for the month of January reached $9,783,380 and with a lower 4 percent sales tax, the state expects $391,335 in medical revenue.
“The sheer number of sales per day has increased probably 3-4 times,” says Ryder.
While Ryder says sales have increased, he has seen more bodies are coming through his door, but he says his dollar per transaction has decreased.
“Based on the last week to two weeks of sales through the end of January I think that will be pretty reflective as to what we’ll see in the next few months here,” says Ryder.
As he gets ready for the summer tourist season, 4/20 (April 20th) and the summer holidays, he feels more at ease.
“It's nice to have that initial month out of the way, we learned a lot about what to expect and how to deal with higher sales volumes so we feel like we are positioned well for the future,” says Ryder.
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