It only took 4 years for the state to figure it out.
Most of you may remember, and if you don't it's because you enjoyed too much of it... But in 2016, Maine initially passed a recreational cannabis law, making it legal to possess certain amounts of cannabis. We'd had a robust, if not slightly comical, medical cannabis program for years leading up to this moment.
I say comical, because getting a weed card in Maine is, well... easy to say the least. At this point it can be done online for as little as $40. There seem to be major price incentives to have your card, but it's not for everybody. Especially if you want to own a gun. You can't do that in Maine with a medical card, legally. That may just enough incentive for a lot of people to not get one.
All that put together, and Maine shattered last years sales for cannabis.
According to WABI, Maine pretty much doubled it's annual recreational cannabis sales over last year. In 2021, Mainers purchased a bit over $80 million worth of legal green. Last year, Mainers flew that number all the way up to nearly $160 million. Of course, these numbers don't account for medical sales, and certainly not black market.
You'd be surprised that there's still a robust black market for cannabis in Maine, despite it being legal. Some folks don't trust the state with anything. Others don't wanna pay the massive tax the state imposes on sales. And others would rather just keep on keepin' on the way they always have.
Cannabis has already become Maine's most valuable cash crop, so it's not going anywhere. But ti's funny how there can still be so much polarity on the subject. But that's just the world we live in nowadays. But apparently, most Maine wallets are being emptied into the dispensary drawers. Go figure.