Satu Berita Banyak Persepektif
Washington state cannabis revenue dropped to approximately $1.14 billion in 2025, down from $1.47 billion in 2021, as retail saturation and aggressive discounting by large chains reshaped the industry landscape ahead of the April 20 holiday.
Data from the Washington Department of Revenue highlights a five-year downward trend in total statewide sales. Industry professionals point to a combination of post-pandemic market corrections and a “race to the bottom” in pricing as primary factors for the decline.
Aaron Como, a sales representative for the cannabis company Bodhi, noted that the cultural significance and sales impact of the 4/20 holiday have shifted significantly since legalization began in 2012.
“Early on, it was very emotional for a lot of people, because it’s like we’re now able to do something that we’ve never been able to do before,” said Como, whose company supplies about 275 dispensaries.
The veteran sales representative explained that the novelty of the holiday has faded as the market became more accessible.
“Stores now are offering sales every day of the week. Before it was like 4/20 is a day to really get sales. Now it’s just every day,” Como said.
Mitchell Lowe, general manager at Spokane-based Lucky Leaf, attributed the financial pressure to the emergence of large-scale retail chains that exercise significant purchasing power over growers.
“Deals and a race to the bottom,” said Lowe. “It’s just everything’s getting cheaper.”
Lowe described how new competitors, which he termed the “Walmarts of Weed,” have disrupted local markets by securing lower wholesale prices through volume buying.
“The date that (Lidz) opened, our sales dropped two -thirds in a single day,” Lowe said regarding the arrival of a major competitor in Spokane.
To maintain a customer base, smaller independent shops have felt compelled to match the steep discounts offered by larger entities.
“We were so dead for those first two weeks, we were like, ‘We have to match whatever they’re doing, because we have no other option,” Lowe said.
For the current holiday, Lucky Leaf is offering specific doorbuster deals for the first 300 customers to stay competitive despite thin margins.
“There are a lot of companies that have emerged that are selling the cheapest of the cheap,” Lowe said. “Now that those companies exist, a lot of people will gravitate to those. People are struggling right now, so we’ve been selling a lot of cheaper products in general for that reason.”
Alexis Jones, inventory lead at Cinder on Division Street, suggested that the market’s heavy saturation makes lower price points an inevitable outcome for the retail sector.
“With such heavy saturation in the market, it’s kind of inevitable that business leads that way,” said Jones. “I think that it’s heavily reliant on what the farms are offering the retail shop.”
Jones also observed a shift in consumer demographics, noting that younger adults appear less interested in traditional cannabis consumption than previous generations.
“Speaking as both a consumer and somebody that works in the industry, I got to pick and choose what I’m going to spend my money on,” Jones said.
The inventory specialist further elaborated on the changing habits she observes among the newest legal-age consumers.
“I do feel like there’s also been this kind of shift in this current generation – Gen Z, if you will; I feel like a lot of them aren’t super interested in smoking weed and drinking all the time,” Jones said.
The 4/20 tradition originated in 1971 with students at San Rafael High School and eventually gained global prominence through connections to the Grateful Dead. Steve Capper, one of the original students involved in the movement’s inception, reflected on the lasting legacy of the date.
“It’s a phenomenon,” said Capper.