A Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) report maintains at the end of 2022, states reported a total of over $15.1 billion in tax revenue from adult-use cannabis sales since 2014.
“States that have made the decision to legalize and regulate cannabis are benefiting from hundreds of millions in tax revenue each year,” Marijuana Policy Project President and CEO Toi Hutchinson said. “These new streams of revenue are helping to fund crucial social services and programs across the country, such as education, alcohol and drug treatment, veterans’ services, job training, and reinvestment in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis.”
Hutchinson said states lagging will be doing a disservice to their constituents and leaving money on the table.
According to the MPP, last year, legalization states generated over $3.77 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales.
“While 2022 cannabis taxes are lower in some established markets than they were in 2021, it’s important to know how COVID-19 and pandemic-initiated lockdown orders increased cannabis demand,” Vicente LLP Director of Economics and Research Andrew Livingston said.
“People could not spend their money going to concerts, going out to dinner, or vacation travel. So many people increased their consumption of consumer packaged goods. Cannabis was a product that could still be purchased and made the difficulty of staying at home for months on end watching TV shows and movies a bit more enjoyable.”
The MPP indicated 22 states have passed laws legalizing cannabis possession for adults 21 and older, with all but two (Maryland and Virginia) having also legalized, regulated, and taxed cannabis sales.