Medical marijuana patients in Arizona bought about three tons of pot and spent about $33 million in 2013. That is according to a new report by state health officials. The report said that nearly 41,000 medical marijuana card holders bought pot from the state’s 71 dispensaries. Sales increased as the year went on and more dispensaries opened in big cities like Phoenix and small towns like Heber.
Will Humble is the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, which manages the medical marijuana program. The report, in his words, “demonstrates throughout 2013 the program had really shifted from one that was dominated by self home grow to one that’s really dominated by dispensary sales.”
Humble said that medical marijuana patients are only allowed to grow weed if they live farther than 25 miles from a legal dispensary. As more dispensaries open, that population will continue to shrink. Dispensary sales generated about $2 million in state tax last year. Humble believes the amount of medical pot sold this year could double or triple.
