More than $4 billion worth of cannabis products have been sold in Massachusetts since the first two cannabis retailers opened in November 2018, the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) announced on Friday.

The industry has grown to 265 cannabis retailers and 14 delivery companies in recent years.

Wonderful understatement, Move Over Cranberries

“This industry is growing fast, it’s huge, it’s not going anywhere,” said the Cannabis Control Commissioner Ava Conception recently to WBZ-TV. “We have surpassed cranberries as Massachusetts’ revenue stream.”

Voters legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, but sales didn’t start until almost late 2018.

So far in 2023, there was over $85 million in retail marijuana sales, according to CCC data. And in 2022 alone, 71 new retailers and seven delivery companies opened in the Bay State, where cannabis sales brought in $1.5 billion.

“Consumer demand for tested, high-quality cannabis products has remained strong since Massachusetts became the first East Coast state to open adult-use stores in 2018 and delivery service in 2021,” said Shawn Collins, executive director of CCC, in a press release . “I am confident that as new jurisdictions are introduced, Commonwealth licensees will retain the competitive edge by showing their peers what it takes to operate a safe, effective and equitable cannabis industry.”

Cannabis in MA is subject to a 6.25% state sales tax and a 10.75% state use tax. Cities and counties may levy an additional tax of up to 3%.