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“It’s a reasonably large distinction,” mentioned Michael Sofis, director of analysis at Hashish Public Coverage Consulting, which performed the examine. He predicted a strong retail market in Maryland.
Sofis and Mackenzie Slade, the agency’s director, shared their findings Thursday with a piece group on marijuana legalization. Greater than 1 in 3 adults mentioned they use hashish no less than on a month-to-month foundation and 1 in 5 mentioned they use marijuana each day or nearly each day — averages that correlate with what's seen nationally.
However Maryland residents consumed greater volumes of marijuana than others throughout the nation, utilizing a month-to-month common of 25.4 grams in comparison with 20.2 grams consumed by residents in states with authorized hashish, in accordance with the examine.
Sofis mentioned the survey additionally discovered that marijuana customers are keen to drive 11 to twenty minutes to purchase hashish and would pay $14 per gram for it.
“That was actually stunning to me,” Sofis mentioned. “It displays a sure stage, I wouldn’t say ardour however an underlying motivation for hashish.”
The briefing on Thursday comes lower than every week earlier than the Normal Meeting returns to Annapolis for its 90-day session, during which establishing a framework for marijuana legalization might be considered one of its prime priorities. Voters in November authorized a referendum to permit leisure marijuana to turn out to be authorized for adults 21 and older on July 1.
Lawmakers will resolve how the system will function, together with who might be issued licenses and the way taxes might be collected and distributed. The state has a medical marijuana program which stays open for Marylanders with medical marijuana playing cards.
Though Maryland trails its regional neighbors in legalizing marijuana, neither Virginia nor D.C. have established a authorized retail market, leaving commerce in a grey space.
The behavioral financial examine estimated that the full demand in Maryland in the course of the first 12 months of implementation is 824 million grams of hashish “throughout all sources of hashish,” which incorporates homegrown, medical and illicit gross sales.
The consultants mentioned the demand in Maryland is probably going within the prime 15-20 % of all states. “It’s even within the prime of the states which have legalized and due to that you need to provide extra dispensaries and have extra alternatives,” mentioned Sofis, who really useful no fewer than 300 dispensaries with a tax price of not more than 15-20 %.
Slade mentioned states “stroll a tightrope” making an attempt to make sure that they aren't over or undersupplying the demand.
Lawmakers grappling with tips on how to get up a authorized retail market mentioned they had been involved about oversupply, noting that a number of states have skilled a glut and, because of this, their gross sales are starting to tank.
Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery) mentioned he acquired quite a few calls from anxious constituents in regards to the state’s transfer into the authorized market after studying stories in regards to the drops in gross sales being seen in states like Oregon and California.
Slade mentioned it will be important for Maryland to permit regulators to have “production-management levers” to forestall a glut within the system.
Feldman additionally puzzled if there's an uptick in individuals consuming marijuana by edibles as an alternative of smoking.
Sofis mentioned they're seeing incremental will increase in edible utilization not simply in Maryland however nationally. “That pattern is continuous and planning forward for that's sensible,” he mentioned.
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