The cannabis market is changing every day. While some remember buying dime bags back in the day, others have only ever purchased from dispensaries, taxes and all. With such a piecemeal market, there’s no such thing as consistency when it comes to the price of pot.
At the end of the day, cannabis is viewed as a commodity or consumer good, with prices driven mostly by supply and demand. In the regulated market, the cost of compliance is built into the final dollar total alongside packaging, marketing, and other COGS (cost of goods sold). Consumers typically have an additional sales and/or excise tax tacked onto their bill at the register.
Knowing this, you may wonder where consumers are paying the most—and least—for their weed.
RELATED: Why don’t some people get high the first time they smoke pot?
According to a recent analysis, Oregon has the cheapest cannabis in America. At around $210 per “high-quality” ounce at a legal dispensary, it’s a relative bargain compared to the national average price of $319.
As some cannabis industry professionals may guess, mature markets (aka places where cannabis has been legal for a while) round out the top five of cheapest pot in the country. Second place went to Washington, followed by Colorado, California, and Montana, respectively.
And while West Coast cannabis fans seem to be seeing less strain on their bank accounts after a dispensary visit, folks in our nation’s capital aren’t so lucky. Smokers in Washington, D.C., are paying upwards of $600 per ounce, a number that may be skewed due to the district’s grey market approach to legalization. While cannabis cannot be sold in regular adult-use dispensaries, it can be gifted—meaning consumers buy t-shirts or other goods and get weed on the side.
The second most expensive legal weed market is Illinois. High taxation means an ounce of top-shelf bud will run around $350. It’s more expensive than Texas, where illicit market cannabis costs roughly $320.
Without a cohesive nationwide cannabis industry, local prices of pot will continue to fluctuate wildly. Some wonder if federal reform would set some type of standard, but until then, dispensary shoppers can expect prices to be—literally—all over the map.
