A recent report shows that last year states which had legalized cannabis for adult-use cumulatively raked in more than $3.7 billion in tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales. This report follows up on an analysis the Marijuana Policy Project released at the start of this year, which examined the total adult-use marijuana tax revenue collected by all the states that have legalized cannabis since recreational sales began in Washington State and Colorado. The organization stated that the total tax revenue generated since recreational sales began in 2014 until March of this year was about $11.2 billion.
Toi Hutchinson, CEO and president of the Marijuana Policy Project, stated that this report offered further evidence that ending marijuana prohibition provided substantial benefits for state governments. In a press release, Hutchinson explained that the regulation and legalization of marijuana for adults had generated billions in revenue, created thousands of employment opportunities in the country and helped fund important programs and services at the state level.
The total the organization arrived at doesn’t include corporate taxes paid to the federal government, income taxes generated by workers in the marijuana industry, licensing and application fees paid by cannabis businesses or tax revenue generated by medical marijuana. This means that the overall impact of legalization on government coffers is even higher than the billions of dollars generated by recreational sales.
The report also highlighted the ways in which states were distributing marijuana revenue for different initiatives and programs, including reinvesting the revenue into communities that were most impacted by the drug’s criminalization. For instance, officials in the state of Michigan announced in March that they would be allocating about $150 million in cannabis tax revenue to a transportation fund, public schools and various localities.
The state of Illinois also pledged to allocate a portion of its tax revenues to mental health services and organizations that develop programs benefiting disadvantaged communities. Last year, officials in the state allocated $3.5 million to efforts to decrease violence through street intervention programs.
In Colorado, almost $500 million in marijuana-generated funds has been directed toward the public school system thus far. States are also collecting more tax revenue from cannabis than alcohol, with Illinois’ latest figures showing that the state collected nearly $100 million more from adult-use cannabis than alcohol.
The state of Massachusetts also took in more tax revenue from cannabis than alcohol last year, with December figures showing that it collected more than $74 million from cannabis taxes and about $52 million from alcohol taxes.
These trends in the tax revenue generated from recreational marijuana sales suggest that adults are to a large extent happy with the products on offer by companies such as Cannabis Strategic Ventures Inc. (OTC: NUGS) in states that have enacted enabling marijuana laws, hence the increasing expenditure on those products.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cannabis Strategic Ventures Inc. (OTC: NUGS) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://cnw.fm/NUGS
About CNW420
CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.
To receive instant SMS alerts, text CANNABIS to 21000 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information please visit https://www.CNW420.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW420, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer
Do you have questions or are you interested in working with CNW420? Ask our Editor
CannabisNewsWire420
Denver, Colorado
http://www.CNW420.com
303.498.7722 Office
Editor@CannabisNewsWire.com
CNW420 is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork.
