Pa.’s top marijuana regulator decries stubbornly high retail prices for medical cannabis

The average wholesale price for a gram of medical cannabis leaf in Pennsylvania has fallen 36% since the beginning of 2020. But the average retail price that patients pay is down only 14% over the same period, a state official said Tuesday.

That discrepancy “is a red flag that needs to be investigated,” the outgoing director of the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana, John Collins, said during an online meeting of the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Advisory Board.

The average wholesale price of a gram of weed fell to $6.56 in February from $10.19 at the beginning of 2020. At retail, the average price fell to $13.40 per gram from $15.67 per gram. Historically, Pennsylvania has had some of the nation’s highest prices for medical marijuana.

Collins explained that the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which regulates medical cannabis, can do very little about the fact that retail prices haven’t dropped as much as wholesale prices. It’s not unusual in many industries for wholesale and retail prices not to move in lockstep.

“We can’t particularly force a price point,” Collins said. “Dispensaries take title to the product and have the right to price it. What we can do to encourage more competition is to put a spotlight on it like we’re doing today.” [Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer]