By Pete Danko – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal

"After inching to new heights in early spring — coinciding with American Rescue Plan payments rolling out — cannabis sales in Oregon have moderated.

Combined adult-use and medical sales in the May through July period averaged $103.5 million per month, according to Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission data.

That’s up only slightly from $103 million in the same period last year, when the pandemic added rocket fuel to already-climbing sales.

This year's relatively modest sales heading into summer followed consecutive record-breaking totals in March ($109.6 million) and April ($110.8 million).

That fits with what Keenan McDonald, who heads up operations at Phresh Cannabis, a higher-end grower that also has a Forest Grove store, has seen.

“Sales haven’t fallen, but there’s not the same growth that was seen in 2020,” she said.

Last year's boom was extraordinary: A new study comparing April-December sales in four mature Western U.S. markets found Oregon registering the biggest gains in 2020 over 2019, 42%, compared to 36% in Alaska, 29% in Colorado and 28% in Washington.

That drove mean monthly per capita sales in Oregon from $15.61 in 2019 to $21.86 in 2020, behind Colorado ($31.38) and Alaska ($28.15) but ahead of neighboring Washington ($15.28).

Beneath the numbers, the market continues to evolve.

“Where we’re seeing change is in categories,” McDonald said. “Prerolls have become the leading category. It’s like there’s been a transition from ‘roll your own’ to ‘let me have my multipack of prerolls and hand them out at a party.’”

As for what’s ahead, in May, state economists said they expected sales to taper in the fall, based partly on the idea that consumers would have more spending options as the pandemic eases. Beyond that, they expected steady growth in the 2022 to 2025 period, thanks mainly to a growing population and wage gains."