Adult-use sales are booming, and home delivery is trending in medical-use sales as David Heidrich considers Maine by the numbers.

From Staff & Wire Reports

David Heidrich, 34, is one of us. He loves State Theatre events and recently took one in: “It was a blast. It had been a long time since I’d heard live music.” He doesn’t like it when people call Instagram “Insta.” He’s left Maine a couple of times but always comes back.

Now the USM grad and Augusta resident has a smoking-hot job. He’s Director of Engagement and Community Outreach for the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy. It must be like knowing the weather before it happens. He’s among the first to see the trends. The numbers come in, he releases them, and then he likely wonders what it all means. He recognizes his unique opportunity to be among those “responsible for launching an industry.”

THE ENORMOUS TASTING ROOM

What fascinates is how quickly our cannabis use reflects our habits and state of mind. 

“Adult-use marijuana retailers sold more than $26.1 million throughout the summer months,” he says. “June was $6.5M, July $9.4M, and August $10.2M. The August figure was the first time” sales went above $10M. August’s 133,969 transactions earned the state $1,022,175 in taxes. “Certainly tourism is responsible for the robust sales, but then, Maine is a four-season destination. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens this fall.”

COLUMN A, COLUMN B

Of course, there are two kinds of sales, quite different: “the Adult-Use Marijuana Program and the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program. Home delivery is prohibited in the adult-use program.”

So home delivery is permitted in Medical Use? Marketing for that has taken a great leap forward since Portland Monthly covered cannabis trends last spring. (Like it says at the bottom of the Maine Marijuana Deliveries page at Weedmaps.com, “We use cookies to improve your experience.”) 

“It doesn’t say permitted. It’s simply not prohibited for the Medical Use program,” Heidrich says.

What might happen if the prohibition for adult-use deliveries were lifted?

“Whoof! That would have some
impact.” 

For one thing, the food-truck industry would have to find another parking spot.

THE SAVINGS START HERE

“Maine’s adult-use industry has conducted nearly $50 million in gross sales since beginning in
October 2020,” Heidrich says. 

These numbers demonstrate that, as access improves, more Maine consumers are choosing the tested, tracked, and well-regulated market over a longstanding illicit market. We have a long way to go, but it is encouraging to see this type of progress. As more cultivators and manufacturers have come online, we have witnessed more product enter the supply chain, resulting in reduced prices. (October 2020: $16.90 average price per gram; August 2021: $12.88 average price per gram).”

Retail licensing status as of September 15, 2021:

Active: 55

Local Authorization: 16

Conditional: 120

Pending: 49

Total: 240 

Follow Heidrich’s ever-changing data: www.maine.gov/dafs/omp/open-data/adult-use#sales_data.

See the full story in the digital magazine above.