DENVER – Colorado’s legal cannabis businesses brought in $45 million in sales and $3.5 million in tax and fee revenue for the state during the historic first month of legal retail adult-use sales, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. The figures, announced today by state officials, show that Colorado’s dispensaries brought in approximately $14 million in adult-use cannabis sales, and approximately $31 million in medical cannabis sales. Adult-use cannabis taxes and fees for January added $2.1 million to Colorado’s state coffers. Medical cannabis taxes and fees contributed another $1.4 million.
“Colorado’s cannabis business community is proud to support important state programs like school construction through this new tax revenue,” said National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) executive director Aaron Smith. “The month of January showed the world that taking marijuana off the streets and putting it behind a taxed, regulated counter can be done professionally, productively, and prosperously. Now it’s time for Congress to reconcile outdated federal laws with those of states like Colorado that have decided to opt out of the failed experiment of marijuana prohibition.”
This week, dozens of cannabis industry leaders will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional members and staff to discuss critical banking and taxation issues facing the industry. On Thursday, March 13 at 10:30am, three members of Congress will join industry leaders and pollster Celinda Lake in the Cannon House Office Building to hold a briefing on the growing support for the legal cannabis industry. Members of the media are welcome to attend.
WHO:
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO)
Aaron Smith, Executive Director, National Cannabis Industry Association
Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research Partners
NCIA Business Leaders representing California, Colorado, Washington, and other states with active legal cannabis markets
WHAT: “Marijuana: Growing Support and Growing Economies” Capitol Hill Briefing
WHEN: 10:30am, Thursday, March 13, 2014
WHERE: Cannon House Office Building, Room 340
