Weed is getting cheaper everyday: The reason why cannabis prices are dropping: “I’d call it a collapse”

Since 2020, consumer prices have jumped by an average of 24%, according to Bankrate, but one controversial product has bucked the trend.

Cannabis cheaper than ever

The price of an ounce of cannabis has plummeted in a number of states across the U.S. between 2020 and 2024. In Maine, it dropped from $449 to $206 per ounce, while in Massachusetts it fell from $394 to $145. Nowhere is cheaper than in Michigan, where it nosedived from $419 to just $84.

In California, where marijuana once cost more than $1,000 a pound, it will now set you back only $250. That’s below the cost of production for most farmers, according to Ross Gordon, a policy analyst for Origins Council, which represents small cannabis farmers in the Golden State. “I’d call it a collapse,” he summarized to USA Today.

Marijuana’s legal status in the U.S.

Weed is now legal in 40 of 50 states for medical use and in 24 states for recreational use. Despite that, it is classified as a Schedule I drug at the federal level, which defines the substance as “having a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”

However, former President Donald Trump has said cannabis could soon be reclassified as a Schedule III substance, which is less restrictive and could remove some of the stigma that still surrounds it. But could that shift even continue to drive the price down, a trend so far caused by the simplest of economics?

Why is weed so cheap now?

Before marijuana was legalized in some states, there were few dispensaries and, as a result, limited supply. Those who could get their hands on it had to dip deep into their pockets.

But with an increasing number of states having legalized weed to one extent or another, production has boomed. State regulators haven’t limited how many growers and suppliers can enter the market, which means supply now far outweighs demand, flooding the market and pushing prices to historic lows.

According to Whitney Economics, a cannabis economist, there is more than two and a half times the amount of cannabis in the market than it can support, which can only mean two things: bargains for buyers and losses for sellers. And for now, buyers are getting deals that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

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