The Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR) released the Average Market Rates (AMR) for retail marijuana effective October 1, 2023, until December 31, 2023.
Three of the AMR categories saw an increase this quarter, with Retail Bud going to $750 per pound, retail Immature Plant rates rising to $15 and Bud for Extraction at $350 per pound. There were also decreases in three categories, with Retail Trim at $150 per pound, Trim for Extraction at $30 per pound and Wet Whole Plants at $71 per pound. The seed rate remained static at $9 each.
The AMR is the median market price of each category of unprocessed retail marijuana that is sold or transferred from retail marijuana cultivation facilities to retail marijuana product manufacturing facilities or retail marijuana stores. CDOR’s Office of Research and Analysis, in coordination with the Taxation Division and the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED), calculates AMRs quarterly for use in levying the excise tax as required by Colorado statute.
In order to estimate the AMR for each of the categories and to comply with the rate-setting requirements of §39-28.8-101(1.5), C.R.S., the Department calculated the AMRs for October 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 used METRC data from June 1, 2023 through August 31, 2023. The transactions originated from retail marijuana cultivators and were recorded in the marijuana inventory tracking system (METRC).
The AMR dataset includes transfers that meet the following criteria:
- Transfers that originated at a retail cultivator
- Transfers to retail stores or retail infused product manufacturers (retail MIPs)
- Transfers of unprocessed marijuana
- Transfers between unaffiliated businesses
- Transfers with a receiver price greater than a penny
For each item transferred, prices per pound (for bud, trim, bud allocated for extraction, trim allocated for extraction and wet whole plant) and prices each (for immature plants and seeds) were calculated. The AMR for each category is the median market price (per pound or each) of all included transfers in that category.
