The pandemic might be fading in the U.S., but Americans are still toking up in record numbers. Two states where recreational marijuana is permitted just published April sales numbers, and the results provided a nice contact high for the cannabis industry.
In Oregon, the first state to decriminalize cannabis (before making it fully legal many years later), total weed sales topped $110.5 million in April, setting a new monthly record and exceeding $110 million for the first time. That's saying something in a market that has effectively been open only since 2016.
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Illinois, meanwhile, also set a fresh monthly all-time record in April, as sales in that state hit $115 million.
That breaks the previous all-time high, which happened to be the preceding month. The April peak was 5% over the March result ($109 million, to be exact). While Illinois is still fairly new to the recreational legalization game (it flipped the switch in January 2020), it's far more populous than Oregon; given that, plus the newness of the recreational market, the state theoretically has much greater potential for growth.
Considering these developments, one company for marijuana stock investors to keep an eye on is sprawling multistate operator (MSO) Curaleaf (CURLF 2.02%), which has dispensaries in both states. Of the two, the stronger presence by far is in Illinois, where Curaleaf operates 10 dispensaries, including one on -- believe it or not -- West Weed Street in Chicago.
Curaleaf hasn't yet made any public statements about the encouraging Oregon and Illinois sales numbers, but you can be very sure the company is very aware (and more than a little encouraged) by them.
