Current Data

U.S. Cannabis Spot Index up 0.3% to $1,549 per pound.

The simple average (non-volume weighted) price decreased $6 to $1,792 per pound, with 68% of transactions (one standard deviation) in the $954 to $2,630 per pound range. The average reported deal size decreased to 2.2 pounds. In grams, the Spot price was $3.41 and the simple average price was $3.95.

The relative frequency of trades for indoor flower decreased by almost 4% this week. The relative frequencies of transactions for greenhouse and outdoor product increased by about 2% each.  

The relative volume of warehouse product contracted by 6%. The relative volumes of greenhouse and outdoor flower expanded by 5% and 1%, respectively.

Over one month after the expiration of the CARES Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, early signs indicate that strong legal cannabis demand has persisted despite the cessation of the expanded unemployment benefits, eviction moratorium, and small business support included in the aforementioned law. This week, new data shows medical cannabis sales in Oklahoma rebounded in August, almost approaching the record set in June. 

While strong sales persist, natural disasters on the West Coast could lead to significant disruption in or loss of supply.  Major wildfires sprang up in Oregon this week, a state that had previously dodged such bullets this year. Some of the fires are located in southwestern Oregon, home to most of the state’s outdoor cultivation capacity. Wildfires are also burning in central and eastern Washington, where significant outdoor growing takes place. Meanwhile, California’s record-breaking blazes persist. Early snowfall this week in Colorado has at least curtailed the expansion of the historically large conflagrations there, but it may also have damaged crops. At the moment, it appears Oregon’s industry could be the hardest-hit by the current wildfires.

In prior years, severe wildfires have not had a significant impact on wholesale flower prices. However, in the face of record-setting demand in almost every legal adult-use cannabis market this year, diminished and damaged fall harvests on the West Coast and in Colorado could exacerbate what has been described as already tightening supply in those markets, which as the largest in the country exercise the most influence on the U.S. Spot.