Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Higher than $200,000 in First Week Sales

Illinois’ first medical marijuana shops sold about $211,000 worth of cannabis in its first week of sales, with only about a quarter of eligible patients purchasing.

The dispensaries, which opened Monday, have dished out about 460 ounces of marijuana to 806 customers. That amounts to about half an ounce per person, and Green Thumb Industries CEO Ben Kovler calls these figures “a very strong start.”

Sales figures gathered by a state-wide digital tracking system indicate the price per ounce of marijuana averaged to about $450 or $16 per gram.

Marijuana wholesalers pay a 7 percent tax to the state. Program director Joseph Wright says wholesale figures aren’t yet available.