Colorado broke another marijuana sales record in 2021, with state officials reporting over $2.22 billion in cannabis purchases last year. The new figures released on Thursday by the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) also showed that the state took in $423,486,053 in tax revenue from medical and adult-use marijuana sales in 2021. The prior sales record occurred in 2020 when Colorado saw about $2.19 billion in marijuana purchases. Since the retail market launched in 2014, cannabis sales have exceeded $12 billion. As of January, tax revenue from those sales has reached $2,049,714,026. The Marijuana Tax Reports show state tax and fee revenue collected monthly as posted in the Colorado state accounting system,” DOR said. “Tax revenue comes from the state sales tax (2.9 percent) on marijuana sold in stores, the state retail marijuana sales tax (15 percent) on retail marijuana sold in stores, and the state retail marijuana excise tax (15 percent) on wholesale sales/transfers of retail marijuana. Fee revenue comes from marijuana license and application fees.” Nearly $500 million of cannabis tax revenue in Colorado has supported the state’s public school system. The state brought in a record $423 million in marijuana tax dollars last year alone. As more states legalize cannabis for adult or medical use—and those markets come online and mature—other states are seeing similar trends in increased sales and tax collection. For example, Massachusetts is officially collecting more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol, state data released last month shows. As of December 2021, the state took in $51.3 million from alcohol taxes and $74.2 million from cannabis at the halfway point of the fiscal year.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/10/2022 14:41:00