Law Enforcement Anticipates an Increase in Cannabis Sales
Law enforcement and the Maryland Cannabis Administration are anticipating an increase in cannabis sales in the coming months.
July 2024 marks one year since legalization across the state.
The Maryland Cannabis Administration provided WBOC the following statement:
"The market is expected to grow. The Department of Legislative Services fiscal analysis from the Cannabis Reform Act (SB516/HB556 of 2023), estimated that the adult-use market may double in Year 2 (July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025). This is based on the experiences of most other states that have legalized where retail sales increased significantly for the first several years of legalization. For instance, Massachusetts (similar pop. to Maryland) went from $400 million in Year 1 to more than $700 million in Year 2 (and year 2 was 2020 when adult-use sales were prohibited for a couple of months at the height of the pandemic) in adult use sales (so excluding medical). "
Here on the Eastern Shore, local law enforcement like the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office is also anticipating an increase. Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli says places like Ocean City with an increase in tourists will certainly see an increase in cannabis product purchases.
“We have a very transient population so in Worcester county we have about 50,000 full-time citizens and in the summertime we may see up to 300+ thousand with the tourism so we definitely anticipate an increase in sales,” said Crisafulli.
Crisafulli says he attributes the increase to Marylanders getting more comfortable with the new laws in place.
“July will be the year mark where the law went into effect. People are probably more comfortable. Law-enforcement agencies across the state have seen an increase and DUIs related incidents. I can speak to that since July, so I anticipate with the summertime as I mentioned with tourism those numbers are going to continue to trend upwards,” said Crisafulli.
Crisafulli says this increase brings safety concerns to his office.
“The safety concerns are always going to be at the top of the list. Typically that’s people getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle especially again in the summertime. We have 8.8 million people who passed through Worcester County on a yearly basis and the spike is really in June, July and August, so if you have someone behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and there’s impairment that brings serious concerns on many different levels, especially since we have a lot more residence, schools are out kids are outplaying. So the concerns just grow exponentially in the summer, so we just inform people to be responsible if you’re going to be using any mind altering substance,” said Crisafulli.
