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Thirteen months after Delaware’s first retail marijuana stores opened, sales of bud, gummies and tinctures averaged about $4.5 million a month in sales for the state. However, they are far below projections, as more retailers struggle to get going and prices are lower in neighboring New Jersey and Maryland.
Sales at the 13 former medical-only cannabis dispensaries that received conversion licenses to sell for recreational use have totaled $58.5 million in retail sales since Aug. 1, 2025. That amount peaked this past July, when retail buyers spent $5.6 million.
The $58.5 million sold so far has generated $8.8 million in tax revenue for the state. Retail cannabis sales are taxed at 15%.
Still, that’s far short of the $281 million in annual sales and $42 million in state revenues that Delaware’s first marijuana commissioner, Robert Coupe, had predicted in 2023 after lawmakers legalized marijuana for adults at least 21 years old.
Coupe’s successor, Josh Sanderlin, has told WHYY News that Coupe’s projections were overly optimistic, but said the market will continue to grow as more growers begin operations and 30 more retail-only stores get licensed, finances and open their doors.
No retail-only stores have opened but Deputy Marijuana Commissioner Paul Hyland told WHYY News that a store named Mint Cannabis — located near Georgetown in Sussex County — should open this month.
He noted that restrictive zoning — especially in Sussex County, where many municipalities have banned cannabis businesses — have slowed the rollout, but a new state law overrides many limits on where stores can be located.
Hyland added that getting financing has also been an issue for many of the 16 prospective retail businesses that have been granted conditional licenses.
“It’s slower than we would have liked. But the process is working well,” Hyland said. “The framework is strong.”
Delaware has a long way to go, however, to compete with New Jersey, which started retail sales in April 2022, and Maryland, which began in July 2023.
