(Photo via UnofficialNetworks.com)
Colorado has raked in nearly $22 million from marijuana taxes, licenses and fees this fiscal year, according to state Department of Revenue data released Thursday.
During the first three months of recreational marijuana sales, Colorado’s cumulative revenue from tax and licensing fees for both medical and recreational marijuana has reached $12.6 million.
The state has reaped $7.3 million from recreational marijuana taxes alone in the first three months since the first legal sales began on Jan.1.
Sales of recreational marijuana were nearly $19 million in March, up nearly one-third from about $14 million in February, according to state figures.
Despite the historic law, medical marijuana — legal in Colorado for years — continues to vastly outsell recreational pot. March medical marijuana sales were about $34 million.
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said in February that he expected combined sales from legal medical and recreational marijuana in the state to reach nearly $1 billion, and forecast the state would collect about $134 million in taxes and fees during the fiscal year that begins in July. Citing uncertainty in the marijuana market, Hickenlooper last month scaled backed those predictions, saying he now expects the state to collect about $114 million in taxes and fees.
More marijuana dispensaries continue to open. As of May 1, about 200 marijuana dispensaries were licensed, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Colorado Collects More Than $20 Million From Marijuana Sales
Article by Matt Ferner for Huffington Post