Alaska marijuana sales drop in November

Alaskans bought less marijuana in November than they did in October, the first time the infant industry posted a decline in 2017.

The Alaska Department of Revenue’s excise tax division released November figures on Tuesday. According to the division, Alaska’s marijuana farms sold 857 pounds of bud (or flower) and 777 pounds of trim to retail stores in November. That’s down from 1,004 pounds of bud and 626 pounds of trim in October.

Alaska taxes marijuana at $50 per ounce for bud and $15 per ounce for other plant parts. As a result, state tax revenue also fell from $953,591 to $872,197 between October and November. The October figure was a record high for Alaska, where the first recreational marijuana shops opened in the last days of October 2016.

Taxes are assessed at the wholesale level, from farm to retail store. Because marijuana remains federally illegal, it cannot legally cross state lines. Any marijuana sold in Alaska is grown in Alaska, which means excise tax figures are a good bellwether for the health of the industry, which was created by a 2014 ballot measure.

Fifty-three percent of Alaskans voted to legalize recreational marijuana sales here, making the state the third in the country to do so. Alaska, which had previously allowed no medical marijuana sales, became the first state to create a legal marijuana industry from scratch.

Despite the drop in sales between October and November, the number of taxpaying marijuana farms grew by one, from 66 to 67, indicating that the industry has not yet met demand and that the drop may be attributable to agricultural cycles.

The decline may also be due to seasonal cycles seen in alcohol excise taxes. Thanks to Alaska’s heavily seasonal fishing and tourism industries, the state’s population booms in the summer months and alcohol sales rise. In the winter, alcohol sales fall, with a small spike in December for the midwinter holidays.

Kelly Mazzei, excise tax director for the state, said it’s too early to tell whether marijuana will follow that seasonality or whether growing cycles will determine the ebb and flow of the marijuana industry.

“I guess time will tell,” she wrote by email.


• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 523-2258.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Feb. 1

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Blank posts are seen where the two totem poles once stood at the Fred Meyer main entrance on Feb. 7, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Fred Meyer totem poles get a second chance at life

Tlingit master carver says they will be refurbished with tribal youth and repurposed.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Friday, Feb. 7, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Construction progress on a new Kaladi Brothers warehouse in Midtown Anchorage is seen on April 22, 2024. Of all major Alaska economic sectors, construction had the highest percentage increase in nonresident hire in 2023, state economists report. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Nonresident hiring in Alaska hits new record, state analysis shows

The number of nonresidents working in Alaska hit a new record in… Continue reading

President Donald Trump speaks to a capacity crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Here’s what Trump, after 20 days of his second term, has done so far specifically affecting Alaska

Nixing rules that limit oil drilling, renaming Mt. McKinley, shaking up U.S. Coast Guard among actions.

President Donald Trump walks away from the podium after speaking about a plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport during a news conference at the White House in Washington, on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. President Trumpճ remarks, suggesting that diversity in hiring and other Biden administration policies somehow caused the disaster, reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
All of the Trump administration’s major moves in the first 20 days

The New York Times is tracking the actions of President Donald Trump… Continue reading

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team pose outside Kodiak High School during their sweep over the Bears this weekend. (Photo courtesy JDHS)
JDHS boys topple Kodiak on the road

Crimson Bears sweep island Bears in two-game series.

Most Read