Green Dragon Closing After 15 Years: What This Says About the Cannabis Industry in Colorado and Florida

A well-known multi-state dispensary, Green Dragon, is closing a significant number of its doors for good in Colorado and Florida after a decade and a half in business.

The closures include 7 dispensaries and a 92,000-square-foot grow facility in Colorado. In Florida, 39 dispensaries and a 400,000-square-foot cultivation facility for medical cannabis are also closing.

The process of the closure is similar to that of a bankruptcy sale. However, bankruptcy is not technically an option within the cannabis industry since marijuana is not yet legal at the federal level. 

The parent company behind Green Dragon, DP Holdings Colorado LLC, filed this notice in October 2024. These closures will affect many jobs, including positions like cultivators, processors, and various retail roles. Once these facilities close, a total of 59 layoffs in Colorado and 113 layoffs in Florida will occur.

But with such a massive number of dispensaries and large cultivation centers closing, it begs the question: what does this say about the legal status and cannabis market in these states?

Colorado’s Cannabis Industry

In Colorado, there has been a downturn in cannabis sales that occurred around the same time as the Green Dragon closures.

In fact, the state reports just under $109 million in sales as of August 2024. When compared to last year, the state recorded $132.45 million during the same period in 2023 — the lowest annual marijuana sales numbers in many years. Colorado is the oldest legal recreational marijuana market in the nation, with this year marking 10 years of recreational cannabis in the state.

The Legislative Council Staff at the Colorado Capitol forecasts that state cannabis tax revenue will continue to decline, but at a slowing rate. According to some sources, this is likely due to the legalization of cannabis in other states, leading to a reduced consumption among marijuana tourism, the market maturing in the state, and therefore, lower prices and revenue. 

This report is not unique to Colorado, however, especially among states that legalized marijuana first. These states have been used to different market demands and tax revenue for many years. In addition, Colorado’s cannabis market was already saturated with cannabis businesses, making this downward trend unsurprising and made worse during the pandemic.

Green Dragon is known as one of the biggest companies in the cannabis industry in Colorado. It’s still hard to say if these closures are a coincidence to these issues. It’s possible, of course, that the state of the cannabis market in Colorado, such as some of the statistics previously mentioned, played a part.  

But, according to an October 2024 article by The Denver Post, the Green Dragon’s days might be numbered. A quote from the CEO of the parent company of Green Dragon, Cory Azzalino, said he is unsure what the ownership group plans to do next. However, he is “certain” that what is currently Green Dragon will not exist in the future. He said the new ownership group is in wait-and-see mode for now.

Florida’s Cannabis Industry

Florida also saw significant Green Dragon dispensary and cultivation center closures.

For Florida, this year’s election was a major game changer when it comes to cannabis law; Amendment 3 specifically could have been a catalyzing event. If passed, it would have finally legalized recreational marijuana in the state.

While the voting was just barely short of the in-favor percentage threshold it needed to pass, the amendment did fail again this year. That means, for the time being, only medical marijuana patients are able to purchase cannabis under a law passed in 2016.

Shortly after the ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana failed, the share of some cannabis companies went down. Interestingly though, the notice was filed to close these Green Dragon dispensaries and cultivation weeks before the results of this election.

However, like Colorado, there is currently a downward trend when it comes to parts of the cannabis market in Florida. Since Florida is medical marijuana only, the trends are instead following the patient counts annual growth.

An annual report from November of 2024 shows the growth in patient counts had fallen to 3.9% in October versus 8.4% in May. As of mid-November, that rate dropped to a record low of 2.7%. This doesn’t mean there isn’t an increasing number of patients, just that the growth rate has slowed.

Competition in the medical cannabis market and falling prices are also occurring in Florida, just like in Colorado’s recreational market. However, Florida is still seeing a slight increase in sales, suggesting unit growth remains strong. For example, THC medical cannabis product units increased by 36.3% compared to a year ago.

While any of these statistics could have played a part in the decision to close dispensaries and a cultivation center in this state versus others, the other financial issues within the company are also a strong factor.

Final Thoughts 

The process of the Green Dragon closures likely had a number of factors affecting its decision-making, including its financial status and underlying operations.

The Green Dragon closures also follow a merger a few years ago in 2021 with Eaze Technologies, Inc. Eaze Technologies’ assets were purchased during an auction that year. The company’s CEO announced just weeks after the merger that a winding down of operations, along with layoffs, could be expected by the end of that year. Eaze also defaulted on a $36.9-million-dollar 2022 loan in May of 2024, further pointing to company-related financial reasons for shutting down dispensaries and cultivation facilities.

While the significant sales decline in Colorado and patient growth rate in Florida was perhaps part of the decision to close, it does not seem to point to the sole reason behind it. For now, we will simply have to wait and see what comes next for the cannabis industry in these states — and whether or not it grows or slows.