That IS a LOT of weed smoking……
Of course this number IS from the state business and in reality the actual number IS TIMES MUCH Higher with the street and other non-regulated sales……
It’s the Empire Baked.
Some 2.7 million New Yorkers enjoy marijuana at least once a month, state cannabis regulators revealed Wednesday, as they continue to push toward a robust, legal marketplace for the green goods.
“There is a large and established market,” said John Kagia, the state Office of Cannabis Management’s policy director at a meeting in Harlem.
The steadily rising use of cannabis represents nearly one-fifth of New York adults who use weed at least once a year, and mostly from illegal distributors, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
“The hard work is just beginning as New York makes this transition from an unlicensed, unregulated market to a legal, regulated cannabis market,” Kagia said during his report to the Empire State’s cannabis control board.
So far, legitimate sales have been low, but promising: licensed cannabis dealers have sold $33 million in weed and edible products — including gummies, brownies, cookies, hard candies, capsules, dissolvable tablets and more — while sales jumped to an eye-popping $11 million for the month of June alone based on state revenue numbers.
Rollout of the state’s legal cannabis program has been slow, however, with just 20 licensed dispensaries and delivery outlets open for business. Forty more are in development, according to regulators….