Adult use sales were legalized on May 25, 2022 and the first adult-use sales began on December 1, 2022. During that time, it was announced that Rhode Island would expand the number of retail licenses from 9 to 33. Of the additional 24 licenses to be issued, 6 will go to social equity applicants. Kimberly Ahern, The head of the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), hopes that they will begin issuing more licenses in 2024.

While there is no limit to the number of cultivation licenses the state will issue, they have not issued a new license since early 2022, and have yet to accept an application since 2020. A 2-year moratorium will go into effect following the final issuance of the CCC's rules and regulations. The CCC was established in June 2023.

August 2021 | Green Thumb Industries completed its acquisition of 4 dispensaries for $69MM

Adult use sales began in December 2022 and brought $7.4M in sales, a big rise from a month prior which saw $4.6MM in sales. The state has continued to see growing interest ever since with sales reaching $9.5MM in July 2023.

With the current hold on new license issuances, operators in the state have found themselves resting on a gold mine. With just 7 stores accounting for almost $10MM in monthly sales, Rhode Island operators are well above national sales norms.

Slow regulation changes will make it hard for any MSO to enter in the near term, but long-term opportunities should still be monitored. If any operator can be so lucky as to obtain one of the few retail licenses that will come available, it's safe to say they will enter an attractive market.