Marijuana taxes made Nevada $8.1 million richer during August, setting yet another monthly record, reports the Tahoe Daily Tribune. That’s $3.2 million more than in August last year. The previous record was $7.9-million, just the month before.
“All told, during the month of August, Nevada’s licensed marijuana dispensaries and retail stores reported taxable sales of $48.8 million, which includes medical marijuana, adult-use marijuana, and marijuana-related goods,” said Bill Anderson, executive director of the state Department of Taxation.
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For July and August, Taxation Director Bill Anderson said the wholesale pot tax has come in more than double the amount it brought in for the same period last year. He said August brought in $3.9 million, which is the third consecutive record high for the wholesale tax. Nevada legalized medical and recreational marijuana in 2001 and 2016, respectively, and it joined the handful of states that permit retail pot shops to operate effective July 1, 2017.
The retail tax, Anderson said, brought in $4.2 million for the month, a 26 percent increase from last year. Those taxes are generated by the sale of adult-use marijuana, not from medical marijuana. Altogether, legal and licensed marijuana dealers reported taxable sales of $48.8 million for medical marijuana, adult use pot and pot-related goods such as edibles.
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Marijuana sales generated $69.8 million in tax revenue for Nevada during the first 12 months of recreational dispensaries operating, and the state previously projected a similar haul, $69.4 million, for the fiscal year 2019.
Ten states and D.C. have passed laws legalizing recreational marijuana, including most recently Michigan as a result of the Nov. 6 midterms. Only seven, however, currently have systems in place permitting non-medical dispensaries to operate: Alaska, California, Colorado, Massachusetts Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state. Last month Canada legalized recreational use countrywide, the largest economy to do so.
Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, though the Trump administration has refrained so far from intervening in states that have passed legislation permitting the plant for either recreational or medicinal purposes.
