New data reveals that the state of Illinois has attained a cannabis milestone after raking in more than $1 billion in legal marijuana sales last year. This comes a year after regulated recreational marijuana sales began in the state on Jan. 1, 2020.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the state recorded a significant growth in cannabis purchases last year. State officials report that over the course of 2020, total sales from both recreational and medical cannabis purchases reached roughly $1,000,308,800. These figures do not include data from medical marijuana sales made in December.
Data shows that adult-use cannabis purchases in December totaled $487 million. That’s approximately $10 million more than purchases made in the month of November. According to the state’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, since retail shops launched in January, the total recreational sales made every month have doubled.
Through the end of November 2020, medical cannabis dispensaries that are operating legally and are licensed sold more than $331 million in marijuana products. The total sales figures from both medical cannabis and recreational purchases will increase once medical cannabis sales figures from December are posted.
In December, roughly 1.9 million recreational marijuana products were sold, with more than a quarter of purchases being made by individuals who were not Illinois residents. With regard to sales of adult-use cannabis products, Illinois retailers sold almost 14,500,000 products last year.
Earlier in October, state officials reported that Illionois had collected more than $100 million in revenue from marijuana sales since the market was launched. Officials have emphasized that while the economic benefits of recreational cannabis legalization were appreciated, the policy must be combined with restorative justice for communities that were affected most by the war on drugs.
While other funds support mental health and substance misuse treatment, roughly 25% of the tax collected from cannabis sales is allotted to restorative justice grants. Illinois had announced in May that it was making social-equity grants worth nearly $31 million accessible to communities that had been identified as economically distressed.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently reported more than 500,000 pardons and expungements for individuals with low-level cannabis offenses on their records. The governor had earlier granted more than 11,000 pardons for marijuana-related convictions before the recreational marijuana market was implemented.
In addition to this, an initiative that will be funded by the state was recently set up to assist residents with cannabis convictions to acquire legal aid and access other services to assist in having their records expunged.
Away from Illinois and its record-breaking cannabis sales, CannAssist International Corp. (OTCQB: CNSC), headquartered in San Diego, California, has been causing a stir with its line of topical cannabis-based products that combat pain.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CannAssist International Corp. (OTCQB: CNSC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/CNSC
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