2024 marks another record-breaking year for legal marijuana sales in Illinois as industry grows

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) — The year 2024 was yet another record-breaking year for legal marijuana sales.

Illinois is surpassing $2 billion dollars in marijuana sales and creating nearly $500 million in tax revenue.

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Just five years after legalizing adult-use cannabis, the state of Illinois is touting the economic impact of a new and fast-growing industry.

“Our market has doubled in the last four years, which is pretty huge,” said Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer Erin Johnson.

Johnson says the industry is growing quickly, but steadily important for cannabis dispensaries and customers.

“The price per ounce of cannabis is actually declining. We expected to see that in every market, because as there’s more supply, the prices are naturally coming down for consumers,” Johnson said.

Currently, the state says there are 244 dispensaries in Illinois. Zen Leaf is the retail arm of Verano. They say they started with three stores in Illinois in 2020 but have since expanded to 10.

“The storefront has been an incredible opportunity for us to continue to bridge that gap. One, to help create a normalization in the conversation, but most importantly, right to create a safe space for people to come in purchase products,” said Verano Vice President of National Retail Josh Kudisch.

The demand for adult-use cannabis is growing. The total number of cannabis products sold in Illinois jumped 13% from 2023 to 2024.

“This is America’s next great homegrown industry, and so really, they sky is the limit for us,” Kudisch said.

This homegrown industry has created a growing source of tax revenue for the state of Illinois.

“Everybody in the state is benefiting from cannabis sales. We made about $490 million in tax revenue last year in 2024. So, 35% of that goes into the general revenue fund,” Johnson said.

And as other states move to legalize adult-use cannabis, the state says nearly 80% of cannabis purchases made here are by Illinois residents, which they say is encouraging for the stability of the industry.