Companies and Brands

Marijuana Price Rises 2% to $2,030

Paul Ausick

Published: January 2, 2016 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:31 pm

For the week ended Friday, January 1, the spot price index for a pound of cannabis increased by $29 (about 2%) from $2,001 in the prior week to $2,030. The simple (non-volume-weighted) average price for a gram jumped nearly 6% from $4.75 to $5.03.

The futures price for February rose from $1,900 to $1,925 on the near-month contract. For the month of March, the forward price increased from $1,925 a pound to $1,955. The six-month forward price for July increased from $2,050 a pound to $2,150.

About two-thirds of the past week’s transactions occurred in a range of $1,730 to $2,830 per pound, according to the analysts at Cannabis Benchmarks, who also noted some factors that will influence and shape the U.S. cannabis market in 2016. Among them:

• Regulation and enforcement is getting tighter, both in states where cannabis is legal and in other states that are considering legalization. As more regulations are passed and enforced, the cost of legally produced marijuana rises.
• Energy-intensive indoor warehouse growing systems will give way to more cost-effective and less energy-intensive outdoor and greenhouse grows.
• Testing standards for cannabis will become more uniform. In Oregon, new rules that become effective in July will require a state agency to collect samples for testing rather than relying on producers to supply samples for testing. The state also will test for nearly 60 pesticides.

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Cannabis Benchmarks lists several other developments along with its review of 2015.

Our price check at MJCharts.com indicates prices range from $25 a gram to a low of $4 in the all-cities index. The all-cities index price is $10.57 per gram. The overall average price for a gram of marijuana (all strains) in Colorado is currently $11.65, ranging from a high of $12 a gram to a low of $8. In California the price is $14.56 per gram, ranging from $25 down to $6 per gram, and in Michigan the average is $17.00 per gram in a range of $20 to $10. In Oregon the average is $10.31 per gram in a range of $20 to $4, while in Washington the average is $10.98 per gram, ranging from a high of $15 to a low of $6.