Pubdate: Sat, 28 Feb 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Ricardo Baca

FIRST POT SUMMARY

Marijuana Edibles Take Top Slot in Recreational Sales in Annual Report

Nearly 5 million marijuana-infused edibles and almost 150,000 pounds 
of cannabis flower were purchased in legal Colorado stores and 
dispensaries in 2014, yet only 67 of Colorado's 321 total 
jurisdictions allow the sale of medical and recreational pot, 
according to an encompassing and unprecedented new report from the state.

The Marijuana Enforcement Division's first annual report, issued 
Friday, is one of the most important documents to date in Colorado's 
marijuana experiment because it's the first to give complete, state- 
sanctioned statistics on what marijuana looked like in its first full 
year of recreational sales.

"The Marijuana Enforcement Division feels that it is imperative to 
remain transparent on such a highly publicized issue in Colorado," 
Lewis Koski, director of the Marijuana Enforcement Division, said in 
a statement. "It is the goal of MED to ensure that information of 
this nature is made available so that the public can fully understand 
the scope and nature of this newly regulated industry."

There's a lot to learn about "the scope and nature" of marijuana in 
Colorado. Some of the new information backed up what many industry 
experts predicted on topics such as cannabis-infused edibles. Other 
findings, including purchasing trends on marijuana flower ( a.k.a. 
dried buds), came as surprises.

Edibles were certainly one of 2014's biggest stories, and for good 
reason, as 4,815,650 units were sold in the first year of 
recreational pot sales - 1,964,917 units on the medical side and 
2,850,733 recreationally.

The numbers on marijuana flower sales in 2014 showed a still-robust 
medical market, which saw 109,578 pounds sold, and a growing 
recreational market, with 38,660 pounds sold.

It's fascinating insight, the report's authors say, knowing that 
recreational edibles dominate the infused product space-yet 
recreational cannabis flower makes up only roughly one-quarter of that area.

"The data reported into the system clearly illustrates a strong 
demand for edibles in general, but especially for retail marijuana 
edibles," the report reads. "The edible trend suggests that retail 
marijuana products are a viable product for retail consumers.

"The retail marijuana product edible trend differs from the sales 
trend for flowering retail marijuana where the latter only comprised 
26 percent of total flowering marijuana sold in pounds. Retail 
marijuana product edibles accounted for approximately 59 percent of 
total units of edibles sold in 2014."

The report also nailed down the exact number of recreational pot 
shops ( 322) and medical marijuana dispensaries ( 505) in the state 
as of December 2014.

Legalization opponent Kevin Sabet on Friday noted that more than 70 
percent of Colorado's jurisdictions don't allow marijuana sales of 
any kind. According to the state's report: Of Colorado's 321 total 
jurisdictions, 67 allow medical and recreational sales, 21 allow 
medical-only sales, five allow recreational only sales and 228 
prohibit all pot sales.

"It's fascinating how the vast majority of places have banned retail 
and medical outlets outright," said Sabet, co-founder of Project SAM( 
Smart Approaches to Marijuana) and director of the Drug Policy 
Institute at the University of Florida. "People have this impression 
that everyone in Colorado wants to legalize marijuana, but it comes 
back to what I've said before. Legalization in theory is different 
than legalization in practice. You might like the tax revenue, but 
when it comes down to having a store next door to your house, it's 
less attractive."

Legalization advocate Mason Tvert countered by saying the places that 
allow pot sales are among the most populated areas of the state.

"The population of the localities ( not allowing pot sales) in 
question is far fewer than the places that allow these sales," said 
Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. "If 
you overlay the map showing the localities that allow marijuana sales 
over a Colorado map showing the most populated areas of the state, 
they match up almost perfectly."

A new Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday found that 58 
percent of Coloradan respondents said they support the pot-legalizing 
Amendment 64 while 38 percent said they oppose it.

Another area of the state's report that saw a significant jump: 
Workers getting licensed to work inside the cannabis industry. There 
were 15,992 people licensed to work in the still newish space in 
December 2014- compared to 6,593 at the beginning of the year, an 
increase of nearly 143 percent.

The state's Marijuana Enforcement Division said it will start 
releasing these statistics on a quarterly basis in 2015.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom