A recently released Marijuana Policy Project report explores tax revenue generated from state-legal, adult-use cannabis – determining states that have legalized cannabis for adults are reaping significant economic benefits.
Per the analysis, as of December 2021, states reported a combined total of $10.4 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales. The scope of work includes the tax structure for each state, total revenue generated each year, and additional information regarding revenue distributed to public services and programs.
“The legal adult-use cannabis industry has now generated over $10 billion in new tax revenue, and in many instances that revenue is being distributed to much needed public services and programs, including reinvesting in communities that were devastated by the war on drugs,” Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, said. “This is in stark contrast to prohibition, which costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year to enforce.”
Officials indicated 18 states have laws legalizing, taxing, and regulating cannabis for adults 21 and older, with tax revenues in those states eligible for allocation for social services and programs that include education funding, school construction, early literacy, public libraries, bullying prevention, behavioral health, alcohol and drug treatment, veterans’ services, conservation, job training, and conviction expungement expenses.
The full report can be accessed via mpp.org/cannabis-tax-revenue.