For the first time ever, Aspen’s legal pot dispensaries raked in more cash than booze sellers did.
Legal marijuana stores reaped $11.3million in revenue in 2017, compared to the $10.5million that liquor stores made, resulting in the first instance when pot outsold booze in the Colorado city, according to official Finance Department figures obtained by The Aspen Times.
Within Aspen’s 12 retail sectors, marijuana is said to have experienced the highest rate of growth last year, increasing 16 percent over 2016’s sales, which came in at $9.7million.
Legal marijuana sales in 2017 outpaced alcohol sales for the first time in Aspen, Colorado
One of the possible explanations floated for the bud business surpassing liquor sales is that people have started looking for substitutes for alcohol, particularly given the fact that visitors have to get acclimated to the city’s higher altitude.
‘Some [people] don’t drink for that first couple of days,’ Matt Kind, host of the CannaInsider podcast told The Aspen Times.
Meanwhile, Max Meredith, store manager at Aspen’s Stash marijuana dispensary, said that, ‘There are new substitutes, and they can be handled responsibly. And perhaps there are a few less late-night fights.’
Nationally, pot seems to be having a more significant impact on booze sales, with one study by Georgia State University showing a 15 per cent decline in alcohol sales over a 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, in states that have legalized the sale of medical marijuana.
Georgia State economics professor Alberto Chong said in a statement to The Aspen Times that the study’s findings implied that ‘rather than exacerbating the consequences of alcohol consumption — such as an increase in addiction, car accidents or disease risk — legalizing cannabis may temper them.’
Sales from Green Dragon and other pot dispensaries pulled in $11.3million in 2017
Alcohol sales from stores, including Carl’s Wine Cellar, were clocked at $10.5million in 2017
Chong also noted that findings also showed that marijuana and alcohol ‘act as strong substitutes in the marketplace,’ as well.
Despite alcohol sales having been beaten by marijuana sales over the course of the year, booze merchants managed to move of their inventory in December than the pot dispensaries were able to sell that month.
Alcohol stores made almost $1.6million worth of sales in December, compared to the $1.2million of sales at marijuana stores.
Still, ‘It’s crazy they’re even close. All of the sudden, pot is equal,’ Fritz Mawickie, an employee at Carl’s Wine Cellar said.
Colorado legalized the sale of recreational marijuana in January 2014.
Aspen is said to have the highest dispensary-to-person ratio in the country, with one dispensary per every 850 people, according to the Aspen Times.