Background

Of the three most common cannabis licenses, manufacturing licenses are the least prone to up or downward swing. There are currently just over 6,153 manufacturing licenses in the database at 5,771 facilities. At the end of Q1 we tracked 6,200 licenses at 5,800 facilities. Cannabiz Media categorizes a license as a manufacturer if it fits the following description: License is for the processing or manufacturing of marijuana-infused products, such as edibles or concentrates.  

Key Findings

• 152 new licenses were issued in Q2 compared to 365 in Q1, down 58%
• California led Q2 with 34 new licenses while Washington was second with 27
• Oklahoma issued 5 in Q2 compared to 235 in Q1 – a 98% decline

In Q2 2023 we tracked fourteen states issuing manufacturing licenses. The complexion really changes with the decline in Oklahoma which has accounted for the majority of these licenses for several years.  

In the graph below we can see that the number of new licenses issued this year has declined. The Oklahoma moratorium is the biggest factor: 

Leaderboards

In looking at the total licenses in effect in the graph below, the number of manufacturing licenses reached its high point in February 2023 and has declined every month since. 

Conclusion

Licensed cannabis manufacturers are not immune to the challenges facing the industry. These include consolidation, price compression, federal illegality and challenges raising capital to name a few. As markets evolve.  

On the positive side, Green Market Report recently cited a report published by Facts and Factors citing that the global cannabis edibles market size was worth around $20.5 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around $197.75 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 32.041% between 2023 and 2030. That could have profound implications for manufacturers as consumers and patients consume more edibles, extracts and other manufactured products.

Author

Ed Keating is a co-founder of Cannabiz Media and oversees the company’s data research and government relations efforts. He has spent his career working with and advising information companies in the compliance space. Ed has managed product, marketing, and sales while overseeing complex multi-jurisdictional product lines in the securities, corporate, UCC, safety, environmental, and human resource markets.  

At Cannabiz Media, Ed enjoys the challenge of working with regulators across the globe as he and his team gather corporate, financial, and license information to track the people, products, and businesses in the cannabis economy.  

Ed graduated from Hamilton College and received his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

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