It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find marijuana-related jobs in Colorado. You probably saw Addresses claim That marijuana sales in Colorado are going down. Besides, the country’s workforce in the cannabis business has declined 28 percent According to a recent report.
This is a first for the Centennial State, which legalized cannabis sales to adults in 2014. While such trends are underway, It was seen all over the countryReports indicate that Colorado is the hardest hit.
Between February 2022 and February of this year, cannabis business owners cut nearly 10,500 jobs within the state — bringing the number of workers in the state down to 27,856. Compare this to industry employment rates in other countries:
- California – 85,593
- Florida – 29011
- Illinois – 29925
- Massachusetts – 28370
- Michigan – 35405
It is not surprising that a state like California is superior to Colorado simply because of its size. However, compared to a state like Florida (which only offers medical marijuana), this is a surprise
Colorado’s drop in employment parallels its drop in wholesale prices for cannabis: Right now, prices are down 61 percent compared to 2021.
“I’m not surprised,” said Truman Bradley, CEO of Marijuana Industry Group, Tell westword. “The industry has been through a 20-month downturn with no end in sight. Sales are down over 20% in the recreational side and over 45% in the medical side this year.”
According to the Colorado Department of RevenueThe state recorded $129.4 million in its first month of sales. This is down 15% from the $151.1 million sold in January 2022. And down from 30% from January 2021.
This loss of sales affects the industry as a whole. With accountants, software providers and other business services all employees cut. Not to mention that state and tax revenues are also declining.
“The economic impact of the cannabis industry in Colorado is real, and unfortunately we’re seeing the downturn also have ripple effects,” he said. Bradley noticed.
Employment cuts as a result of legalization, economic inflation and COVID-19
While times are tough for the Colorado cannabis industry, some of the economic forecasts are optimistic. the Governor’s Office for Government Planning and Budgeting Marijuana tax revenue is expected to grow 16% in 2024.
However, these hiring cuts are just a reminder of the ongoing hardships the country faces from the 2020 public health crisis.
“COVID has changed a lot of things in cannabis and other industries.” Bradley said. “After such a big shock, it’s hard to know what the world would have been like without that shock. We had the best year we’ve ever had, immediately followed by deflation. It’s not just rationing other countries. We’re also dealing with high inflation that didn’t We’ve been seeing it since cannabis became legal.”
With that in mind, it’s hard to assume what direction Colorado should go in its industry. Bradley believes there are “long-term concerns” with the current excise tax of 15% on the wholesale sale of marijuana.
Colorado remains only one of three states that impose an excise tax on wholesale cannabis operations. Such a resolution was approved by voters when the Coloradans initially passed it in 2012.
“When Colorado voted in favor of the various tax plans now in place, in some cases we were the only legal market for buying cannabis for nearly a thousand miles,” he said. Bradley said. “That’s not the case anymore, so the second decade has to look different than the first if the Colorado cannabis industry is going to survive.”
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