The Illinois cannabis industry started gangbusters.

Dispensaries in Illinois sold $3,176,256 in marijuana products on the first day of sales and $10,830,667.91 in five days of sales.

The first month, Illinois sold nearly $40 million in product sales and generated more than $10 million in tax revenue.

In February, Illinois generated $34,805,072.01 in sales.

The high demand led to a statewide product shortage for many dispensaries and prioritizing for medical patients. The future of sales appeared strong.

Now that Illinois is under a stay-at-home order and medical cannabis has been deemed “essential,” some Illinois dispensaries have stopped selling to recreational cannabis and others have begun curbside services.

In a few weeks, the supply is catching up to the demand for cannabis in Illinois.

At the start of March, many dispensaries live menus often listed a selection of only 2-5 strains of flower for medical patients and often offered no options for recreational users because of prioritizing.

If customer wanted a particular strain of flower, the options were few. If a customer wanted a particular strain on the live menu list, the customer had to get to the dispensary quickly or stock would quickly run out.

Currently, a tracking of the dispensaries menus lists shows menus offering 8-38 different strains for sale to medical patients and, if available, 8-12 strains for recreational users.

But for how long?

Many investors, growers, distributors, medical patients, dispensaries, and average recreational users are closely watching how the coronavirus epidemic is affecting not only the Illinois cannabis industry but also the national supply and demand and distribution systems.

A study conducted by Colorado cannabis consulting firm, Freedman & Koski, estimated that the demand for a fully mature annual marijuana market for Illinois could range between $1.69 billion to $2.58 billion.

But those projections did not predict the current adjustments to the epidemic.