Cannabis retailers in Maryland saw a strong start to recreational marijuana sales last month, with data from state regulators showing nearly $85 million in sales for July, the first month of regulated adult-use cannabis sales. Regulated sales of recreational marijuana began on July 1 at the state’s existing medical marijuana retailers under legislation passed by lawmakers earlier this year.

Data from the Maryland Cannabis Administration and METRC, the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system technology vendor, show that licensed cannabis retailers rang up $84.95 million in sales of adult-use cannabis and medical marijuana between July 1 and July 30. By comparison, last year Maryland’s cannabis retailers posted sales of medical marijuana totaling just over $43 million in July, about half of this year’s total. A representative for New York-based Curaleaf, one of the nation’s largest cannabis companies, said that net sales of marijuana for the 28 days after the start of adult-use sales on July 1 doubled the sales recorded over the previous four weeks.

Cannabis flower was by far the most popular form of marijuana for Maryland consumers last month, with more than $51 million in total sales for July coming from the product category. Cannabis concentrates brought in more than $22 million in sales, while weed edibles sales totaled $6.3 million.

Last month’s strong sales began out of the gate, with total sales of cannabis products on July 1 coming in at more than $4.5 million, including more than $3.5 million in recreational pot sales and about $959,000 in medical marijuana sales. Cannabis market data firm Headset reported that on the first day of recreational sales, Maryland cannabis retailers averaged nearly $50,000 in total sales, an increase of 252% over an average of the previous four Saturdays, when the market was still medical only.

Ben Burstein, a strategist at wholesale cannabis marketplace LeafLink, notes that Maryland’s first month of recreational marijuana sales puts the state on a pace to log approximately three-quarters of a billion dollars in annual sales.

“Maryland’s adult-use retail sales have had an incredible start in its first month, hitting $21 million in the first week alone,” Burstein writes in an email. “This puts the state on track for an annual run-rate of $700 million to $800 million, making it one of the top-performing markets this year.”

Recreational Pot Sales Legalized In May

In November, Maryland voters legalized recreational marijuana with the passage of Question 4, a state referendum that was approved with nearly two-thirds of the vote. In April, lawmakers passed legislation to regulate adult-use cannabis production and sales beginning on July 1, followed by the signing of the bill by Governor Wes Moore in early May. Under the measure, all adults in Maryland aged 21 and up with proper identification are allowed to purchase regulated marijuana products including cannabis flower, vapes and gummies.

The legislation also changed the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, which previously regulated the production and sale of medical marijuana, to the Maryland Cannabis Administration. Will Tilburg, the acting director of the new agency, said that regulated sales of cannabis in Maryland are expected to triple over the next year with the launch of recreational marijuana sales.

“There’s more than 4 million eligible consumers versus 168,000 medical patients,” Tilburg said, according to a WBAL report in June.

Darren Weiss, the president of cannabis multistate operator Verano Holdings, praised Maryland’s transition to a regulated recreational marijuana market.

“I can say that this was the single easiest launch that we’ve ever been through in terms of dealing with regulators and just understanding the market,” Weiss told WMAR, Baltimore’s ABC affiliate. “We’ve had absolutely no snafus from a regulatory or compliance perspective.”

So far, the Maryland Cannabis Administration has converted the licenses of 95 medical marijuana dispensaries so that they can serve recreational cannabis customers, the agency reported last month. Additionally, state regulators have licensed 42 cannabis cultivators and manufacturers to produce adult-use products.