The numbers are in for recreational marijuana sales in Colorado in June 2015, and the numbers are staggering. Colorado sold a record amount of recreational marijuana in June, totaling more than $50 million dollars in recreational marijuana sales. That’s the first time since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana that sales have topped the $50 million mark. Per The Cannabist:
Recreational pot sales jumped more than $7.6 million from May to June, totaling $50.1 million, according to the data. Medical marijuana sales also saw a significant uptick in June, up more than $2.8 million from the previous month for an annual high of $35.2 million.
There are three types of state taxes on recreational marijuana: the standard 2.9 percent sales tax, a 10 percent special marijuana sales tax and a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale marijuana transfers. For June, Colorado collected a total of $9 million in recreational taxes and fees and $1.85 million in medical taxes and fees, bringing the 2015 cumulative revenue total to $60.7 million.
The 15 percent excise tax, which is earmarked in Colorado for school construction projects, brought in $2.9 million in June, down from $3.5 million in May. In the first six months of 2015, those school-bound tax revenues topped $16.6 million; in all of 2014, that tax brought in $13.3 million.
Colorado has already raised over $60 million dollars in taxes, and there’s still more than a third of the year left. That is an outstanding number. Remember when Kevin Sabet said that for every tax dollar generated, there would be ten dollars spent on ‘social costs?’ Well where’s that $600+ million dollars in social costs Mr. Sabet? Eat crow much? I can’t wait until Oregon, my home state, is generating tax revenue, creating jobs, and boosting local economies like Colorado is. October 1st is when limited recreational marijuana sales start in Oregon, which can’t come soon enough.
