The cannabis industry in Colorado has fallen on hard times. What does the future hold?

Colorado’s peak marijuana sales — in 2020 when combined recreational and medical sales topped $226 million — are a distant memory, as the state’s dispensaries struggle through an economic downturn, with sales plummeting and small businesses faltering.

“The market is just bad. It’s bad now,” said Val Tonazzi, 29, who sells cannabis. “There are businesses closing, left and right.”

In March, medical marijuana sales in Colorado totaled about $17 million — about $5 million less than last March. Retail marijuana sales brought in as much as $122 million, but that’s still a decrease of $17 million from March 2022.

Read the rest of this story at DenverPost.com.