Cannabis sales continue to rise in Colorado

Colorado Department of Revenue officials are all smiles following the collection of cannabis taxes at the start of 2016.

A good Results for Colorado. For the full year 2015, the cannabis market had already reached sales of $996 million or 878 million euros, a combination of medical cannabis sales (41% of the total) and the recreational market, boosted by tourism.

The $996 million figure already exceeded the estimated 2014 cannabis sales of $699 million. 2016 is off to a flying start, with cannabis sales showing no signs of slowing down: nearly $180 million has already been generated in January and February alone, for total sales. According to our projections, Cannabis sales in 2016 could generate a record amount of $1.3 billion for the State of Colorado. The growth of tourism, agricultural technologies, and the development of new cannabis concentrates whose sales doubled last year or the medical efficacy of the space food contribute to this sharp increase.

What are the taxes on cannabis in Colorado?

There are three types of taxes on recreational cannabis:

• a standard sales tax of 2.9%
• a special tax of 10% on cannabis
• an excise tax of 15% on the quantities sold

The medical marijuana is taxed at 5.5 %.

In 2015, Colorado collected nearly $135 million from cannabis-related activities. In January and February 2016 alone, the state treasury will collect $24.03 million from the recreational market and $3.66 million from the medical market.

Amendment 64 to the cannabis legalization law requires that each year, the money raised is reinvested up to $40 million for education or infrastructure projects.

Theo Caillart