A new report by the Marijuana Policy Project, published on Monday, found that from 2014 to 2022 states have generated more than 15 billion dollars in tax revenue for adult-use marijuana.
It was the first time revenue had been lower than in the previous year. Experts attribute this to “a multitude of factors,” such as COVID policies and trends.
The fact that the tax revenue for 2021 was almost $100 million lower than that of 2022 is noteworthy, given that many states, such as New Jersey, and New Mexico, launched their recreational markets in 2018. This would have led to higher tax yields.
Tax revenue increased in states where cannabis was legalized more recently, but declined in six of the oldest markets.
Here is the state-by-state 2022 totals:
- Alaska: $28,649,408
- Arizona: $223,863,799
- California: $1,074,560,287
- Colorado: $305,034,034
- Illinois: $562,119,019
- Maine: $25,329,534
- Massachusetts: $250,710,415
- Michigan: $326,049,074
- Montana: $41,989,466
- Nevada: $196,952,338
- New Jersey: $21,139,655
- New Mexico: 36,684,235 dollars
- Rhode Island: $579.439
- Oregon: $150,316,424
- Washington: $529,443,420
- Vermont: $2,363,000
The national totals for each year are shown below:
- 2014: $68,503,980
- 2015: $264,211,871
- 2016: $530,521,110
- 2017: $736,534,982
- 2018: $1,308,693,928
- 2019: $1,749,459,667
- 2020: $2,814,837,199
- 2021: $3,866,974,690
- 2022: $3,774,783,548
- CUMULATIVE FORMAT: $15,114.520.975
In a press statement, Andrew Livingston, Director of Economics and Research at Vicente LLP said that the decline in 2022 was “due to a variety of factors.”
He said that while 2022 cannabis tax rates are lower than in some established markets in 2021, “it’s important to understand how COVID-19 lockdown orders and pandemic-initiated lockdown orders have increased cannabis demand.” “People couldn’t spend their money on vacations, concerts, dinners, or going out for a night. Many people have increased their consumption. Cannabis could be bought and it made watching movies and TV shows for months at a time more enjoyable.
Toi Hutchinson is the president and CEO at MPP. stated states that have legalized marijuana “benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue every year.”
She said that “these new revenue streams are helping to fund vital social services and programs throughout the country, including education, alcohol and drugs treatment, veterans’ service, job training, as well as reinvestment into communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the war against cannabis.” The states that fall behind are not only doing a disservice their constituents, but they will also leave money on the table.
The report does not include sales made through the medical cannabis programs of individual states.
In the future, more tax dollars are expected to be collected as newer markets mature. States like Delaware or Maryland have recently ended prohibition and are now positioned to start their own industries.
As more marijuana businesses have been licensed and as consumers migrate to the regulated market, states in newer markets continue to record high marijuana sales.
Michigan cannabis sale reached a new high last March with combined recreational and medicinal cannabis purchases of nearly $250 million, according to the state regulators.
Connecticut saw combined sales of recreational and medical marijuana reach a record-breaking $22 million during the month of March.
Missouri cannabis sale reached a record of $126 million in that month. This was the second month after adult-use shops were opened in the state following the approval by voters at the November ballot.
The New Mexico governor recently celebrated the first anniversary of its adult-use cannabis market, highlighting the more than $300,000,000 in sales that the industry has generated since April last year as well as thousands of new jobs.
In Arizona, at the end of 2022, the total amount spent on adult-use marijuana in Arizona was $1.4 billion.
After launching in 2018, the state’s recreation market in Massachusetts officially reached $4 billion in sales by January 2019.
A top Wisconsin Senator recently released a legislative report that revealed just how much money Wisconsin lost to Illinois in the past year. Wisconsin residents, who do not have a regulated marijuana market, went across the border, and spent more than $121,000,000 on marijuana.
U.S. Secret Service Loosens Rules On Past Marijuana Use By Prospective Agents
The report states have generated over $15 billion in marijuana tax revenue since 2014, though earnings declined last year, found, appeared first on Marijuana moment.
