Editor’s note: Updated on 11/28/2018 with figures from MJ Biz Daily and Massachusetts’ CCC.

Massachusetts cannabis retailers saw robust sales through their first week of legal sales, this according to the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. On the first day of legalized marijuana sales, the Bay State’s two authorized retailers saw over $440,000 in sales alone. On Black Friday, according to MJ Biz Daily, the state’s two retailers sold over $480,000 in gross sales and, for the week, cleared $2.2 million. Not bad. But this is just the beginning. Let’s take a look at how sales in Massachusetts compare with other states’ first days and where the industry is going.

Massachusetts Sales Still Dwarfed By California

Okay, it’s not a fair comparison. California opened with 99 retailers back on January 1, 2018 and Massachusetts had all of two stores. For what it’s worth, Massachusetts’ sales numbers if scaled out (hypothetically) to 99 retailers would have compared pretty favorably to Cali’s first legalized rec-use days.

Massachusetts Set to Approve Three More Cannabis Retail Shops

Three more retailers are set to join the cannabis-retail frenzy in the near future. While they’re still awaiting commence operations notices from the CCC, the Commission has explained to numerous outlets that three retailers have their products established within METRC.

This Is Only The Beginning

We all understand how rapidly legalization is expanding. Crucially, what Massachusetts’ strong growth sales are confirming is the public’s demand for legalized rec-use cannabis. As our own director of compliance, Juli Crockett, explained in an email:

“Newly regulated states such as Massachusetts demonstrate both the need and the desire for a regulated, legal method of obtaining safe, tested cannabis. As had been said time and time again, localities that ban licensed commercial cannabis activity are only banning regulated activity, as the illicit markets continue to thrive. The greatest foil to the illicit market is a sanely-regulated, fairly-taxed, robust regulated market.”

Count Massachusetts as one more state that realizes the utility and intrinsic value of a regulated and legal rec-use market.