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States With Legal Recreational Marijuana Made $2.7 Billion in Tax Revenue Last Year, Report Finds
On 5/25/21 at 12:10 PM EDT
States that have legalized marijuana have seen billions of dollars in tax revenue as a result, according to a new report from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
MPP, a pro-legalization organization, found states made a combined total of $7.9 billion in tax revenue from recreational marijuana since sales began in 2014 with $2.7 billion in tax revenue reported in 2020.
California, which legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, made more than $1 billion in tax revenue in 2020, the report said. Legalizing cannabis for adults has proven to be a wise investment, Jared Moffat, the state campaigns manager at MPP, said in a statement on Tuesday. Not only are states seeing the benefits of a regulated market and far fewer cannabis-related arrests they re benefitting in a direct, economic way, too.
Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
The report, which used figures from each legalized state, demonstrated how legal cannabis sales enhanced local tax bases and often funded various state services and programs, including social equity, reentry programs, public health initiatives and support for law enforcement.
Signs of the return on investment came not long after Colorado and Washington State legalized cannabis in 2014.
In 2020, Washington brought in approximately $614 million from recreational sales, up from roughly $159 million in 2015. Colorado increased from roughly $104 million in 2015 to $362 million in 2020.
Similar results occurred as additional states came online, including:
Nevada up from $86 million in 2018 to $123 million in 2020