Illinois has generated almost $100 million more in tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales than from alcohol in 2021, state data shows. And cannabis tax dollars have exceeded those for liquor every month since February. The trend is yet another example of the strength of Illinois’s recreational cannabis market, which launched in January 2020 and has consistently seen record-breaking sales in the months since. From January to November of this year, Illinois took in about $387 million in marijuana tax dollars, compared to $291 million from liquor sales, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue (DOR). The only month where alcohol tax revenue outpaced cannabis this year was January. The figures Part of that marijuana tax revenue is actively funding equity initiatives in the state. For example, Illinois officials announced this month that applications are opening for $45 million in new grants—funded by cannabis tax dollars—that will support programs meant to reinvest in communities most harmed by the drug war. This will be the second round of funding to be issued through the state’s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program, which was established under Illinois’s adult-use cannabis legalization policy. The law requires 25 percent of marijuana tax dollars to be put in that fund and used to provide disadvantaged people with services such as legal aid, youth development, community reentry, and financial support.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 12/28/2021 17:38:00