Washington, DC: Tax revenues derived from licensed retail sales of state-legal, adult-use cannabis products totaled approximately $3.8 billion last year – according to an analysis provided by the Marijuana Policy Project.
MPP’s figures do not include revenues derived from the sales of medical cannabis products and/or the collection of state-imposed regulatory fees.
Adult-use sales generated the greatest amount of revenue in California (roughly $1.1 billion), followed by Illinois, Washington, Michigan, and Colorado.
Since 2014, retail sales of adult-use cannabis products have generated $15.1 billion dollars.
“States that have made the decision to legalize and regulate cannabis are benefiting from hundreds of millions in tax revenue each year,” said Toi Hutchinson, President of MPP. “These new streams of revenue are helping to fund crucial social services and programs across the country, such as education, alcohol and drug treatment, veterans’ services, job training, and reinvestment in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis.”
Data compiled in November by the website Leafly.com and Whitney Economics determined that cannabis is the sixth most valuable cash crop in the United States. Another analysis compiled by the two groups reported that the state-licensed cannabis industry employs over 428,000 full-time workers.
The full text of the report, “Cannabis Tax Revenue in States That Regulate Cannabis for Adult Use” is available from MPP.