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Colorado Legal Cannabis Sales Topped $113 Million In May 2024

Colorado’s legal cannabis dispensaries sold $113,174,488 worth of products in May 2024 according to the Colorado Department of Revenue, a slight decrease from April 2024 when Colorado’s licensed dispensaries sold over $120 million.

The state’s Department of Revenue also released total cannabis tax and fee revenues for June 2024. Colorado’s legal cannabis industry generated $18,349,502 in taxes and fees in June. The industry has generated $128,167,744 in taxes and fees so far in 2024, and $2,746,325,477 since early 2014.

“Tax revenue comes from the state sales tax (2.9%) on marijuana sold in stores, the state retail marijuana sales tax (15%), and the state retail marijuana excise tax (15%) on wholesale sales/transfers of retail marijuana. Fee revenue comes from marijuana license and application fees.” the Colorado Department of Revenue stated in a news release.

According to a statewide poll that was recently conducted by the Colorado Polling Institute, 67 percent of Colorado voters report that “allowing the regulation of marijuana” is a “good thing.”

The results of the Colorado Polling Institute survey are inline with separate survey data released by Public Policy Polling which found that most Colorado voters believe, “Colorado’s regulated marijuana industry has had a positive impact on the state economy.”

The United States adult-use cannabis industry has generated over $20 billion in total tax revenue since the first legal recreational cannabis purchase was made in Colorado on January 1st, 2014 according to a report by the Marijuana Policy Project.

“Through the first quarter of 2024, states have reported a combined total of more than $20 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales. In 2023 alone, legalization states generated more than $4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year.” the Marijuana Policy Project stated in a press release.

79% of people living in the United States lived in a county with at least one regulated cannabis dispensary according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center also found the following:

  • 74% of people in the U.S. live in a state where recreational or medical cannabis is legal
  • There are nearly 15,000 cannabis dispensaries in the U.S.
  • California has the most overall dispensaries (3,659)
  • Oklahoma has the most dispensaries per capita (36 dispensaries for every 100,000 residents)

Total legal cannabis sales in the United States are expected to reach $31.4 billion in 2024 according to a recent analysis by Whitney Economics. Additionally, leading cannabis jobs platform Vangst, in conjunction with Whitney Economics, estimates that the legal cannabis industry now supports 440,445 full time-equivalent cannabis jobs in the United States.

Whitney Economics also projects the following legal cannabis sales figures in the United States for the coming years:

  • 2024: $31.4 billion (9.1% growth from 2023)
  • 2025: $35.2 billion (12.1% growth from 2024)
  • 2030: $67.2 billion
  • 2035: $87.0 billion

The emerging legal cannabis industry in the United States is projected to add roughly $112 billion to the nation’s economy in 2024 according to an analysis by MJBiz Daily. The projection is part of the company’s 2024 MJBiz Factbook.

“The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year,” MJBiz stated in its initial reporting.