Cannabis sales in Washington drop for fifth consecutive year
Aug 8, 2025, 10:22 AM
A 'Weed' sign advertises a cannabis dispensary. (Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)
(Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images)
Cannabis sales in Washington have been trending down for five consecutive years, the Washington Department of Revenue (WDR) confirmed.
The WDR reported on June 17 that Washington’s first-quarter cannabis sales in 2025 totaled more than $277 million. In comparison, cannabis sales in the first quarter of 2021 tallied nearly $371 million, more than $100 million more compared to 2025.
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Washington cannabis sales steadily decrease
The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board (WLCB) attributed the sales decline to an oversupply of cannabis, which drove down prices and reduced revenue.
“The price of cannabis is going down, and the price of everything else is going up,” the owner of Ocean Greens, a north Seattle pot shop, told KOMO News.
Total cannabis sales in Washington reached a high of $1.4 billion in 2021 and have been steadily decreasing since. The total sales for 2024 were approximately $1.2 billion.
Third-quarter sales have primarily driven the highest sales throughout the year. In six out of eight quarters since 2017, the third quarter has been the highest sales period for cannabis in Washington.
“It is a pretty big surprise, because usually this place is pretty busy when I come here,” cannabis customer Jacob DeAngeles said, according to KOMO News.
Cannabis retailers in Seattle have claimed that the number of customers through the doors is seemingly unchanged since the COVID-19 spike, despite the decline in revenue.
“There’s not much difference between those days and now, just their pockets are a little bit thinner,” the owner of Ocean Greens told KOMO News.
Cannabis sales in 2025 are trending towards the lowest recorded total since 2019. The WLCB also reported that alcohol sales have remained nearly unchanged since the COVID-19 pandemic sales totals.
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