A recent revenue report highlighting Massachusetts, Illinois and Maryland’s cannabis sales for the month of July has delivered some fascinating insights. Since October, BDSA – a trusted resource for assessing the cannabis industry and gaining visibility into sales data – has been compiling data for Massachusetts’ cannabis market. The analysis company’s data has also been covering Illinois and Maryland for the past year.

How? BDSA utilizes GreenEdge Retail Sales Tracking, Consumer Insights, Industry Intelligence and CBD Market Monitor divisions. Despite the fact that BDSA’s analysis is sufficiently more in-depth for Illinois and Maryland, the team still managed to gain some valuable observations.

Let’s take a look at what conclusions were drawn from the company’s latest cannabis sales report:

• Illinois

Cannabis sales in Illinois grew 22 percent between June and July. A total of $94.2 million was pulled in by the state’s combined medical and adult-use markets, with the year-to-date total peaking at $504.4 million. 

Concentrated cannabis constituted 39 percent of total July revenues at $36.6 million; 78 percent of the concentrates market in Illinois came from vape products, which generated $28.5 million. 

During the month of July, flower sales accounted for more than 36 percent of Illinois’ cannabis market revenue at $33.9 million in revenue. Ingestible cannabis in Illinois – including edibles and sublingual products – made up 18 percent of July sales at $16.7 million.

Almost six percent of cannabis revenue in Illinois came from pre-rolled joints in July, at which point, this category pulled in $5.6 million in sales. Flower sales swelled by 30 percent between June and July, while pre-rolled joints inflated by 41 percent.

• Maryland

A healthy $40.9 million was earned from cannabis sales in Maryland this July, with revenue growing eight percent from the month prior and more than 82 percent from July 2019. For the entire year of 2020, Maryland’s cannabis sales amounted to $242.2 million — $113.6 million more since the same period last year.

Monthly revenue of flower sales was calculated at $20.8 million in July; accounting for approximately 51 percent of overall monthly sales at $20.8 million. Flower sales soared 88 percent from the previous July, while pre-rolled joints – which brought in $2.8 million in sales this July – grew 104 percent.

Concentrated cannabis sales in Maryland made up 29 percent of July revenues, when the monthly total grew 14 percent from June to $11.9 million. Included in the concentrates category was vape products, which raked in $8.3 million in sales; constituting 70 percent of the concentrates segment and 20 percent of all cannabis categories. Dabbable concentrates proved to be a popular area of the market in July, with sales growing 73 percent since the previous month, while vape sales climbed 59 percent.

Ingestible cannabis in Maryland was a major success, with this area of the market accounting for 11 percent of July sales and $4.6 million in revenue. During the same month, edibles made up 91 percent of overall ingestible sales; increasing one percent from the month prior. Since July 2019, edible sales inflated 145 percent and sublingual products increased by 21 percent.

• Massachusetts

The adult-use and medical cannabis markets in Massachusetts amounted to a combined $92 million this July; a 24 percent increase since June. For the entire of 2020 through July, total cannabis sales in Massachusetts have surpassed $412.7 million. 

A major money-maker was flower, which accounted for 48 percent of overall monthly revenue in July and turned over $44.5 million in sales. Pre-rolled Joints were also fairly popular, with this category constituting almost 11 percent of revenues and attracting $9.8 million in sales. Between the months of June and July, flower sales grew 26 percent, while pre-rolled joints grew by 28 percent. 

Concentrates, on the other hand, bulked up July revenues by $23.7 million. Then there’s the Ingestibles category – featuring Edibles and Sublinguals – which made up 14 percent of July cannabis sales in Massachusetts with $12.6 million. Compared to June, edibles sales crept up by 15 percent, while sublingual sales grew by 18 percent.

For further information about cannabis sales in the top legal U.S. markets, check out the BDSA GreenEdge Platform for unlimited access to actionable data and analysis.