In the first two months of 2021, marijuana sales in Colorado are $78 million higher compared to January and February in 2020.
The state’s revenue department announced on Friday that the total marijuana sales reached $167 million in February. This is a $20 million decline in sales from January 2021. But overall sales remain above the pace set last year.
Marijuana sales are calculated by adding the total sales for both medical and recreational marijuana sales in Colorado’s 64 counties.
The top three counties leading in sales were Denver county with over $38 million, Arapahoe county with $13 million, and Adams county with $11 million. Denver also led in medical marijuana sales with a total of $14 million. The next county was El Paso bringing in $10 million in medical sales.
Counting the sales automatically by each county is not something the system is able to do. So, The Department of Revenue relies on each county to report their sales before they report the total. Also, reporting for marijuana sales is one month behind tax and federal revenue totals.
In March Colorado collected over $33 million in tax revenue. This includes taxes from both medical and recreational marijuana along with license and application fees.
Colorado’s tax revenue comes from a 2.9 percent state sales tax on marijuana sold in stores. 15 percent state retail marijuana sales tax, and 15 percent state retail excise tax on wholesale sales or transfers.
On-Going Changes
Colorado legalized marijuana back in 2012, they have made changes throughout the years but there are currently several proposals in the works.
In March of this year, lawmakers began working on what some people consider the biggest cannabis legislation since they legalized recreational marijuana in 2012. The bill, if passed, will tightly regulate the state’s industry.
Another new bill would allow for marijuana delivery in Denver Colorado. The city council in Denver is also considering rules that will allow drive-thru and walk-up cannabis sales to continue after the covid restrictions expire.
Finally, the mayor of Denver supports federal marijuana legalization. Earlier this month Mayor Hancock interviewed with Yahoo Finance to talk about how he would like to see President Biden act and be a leader to help shape the values of the policy for marijuana legalization.
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