According to data released by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, California has garnered over $4.6 billion in tax revenue from legal marijuana sales.
In total California has earned $4,632,749,942 in revenue from the distribution of marijuana and marijuana products as of the end of 2022. This revenue came from nearly $20 billion in marijuana sales.
Although California legalized marijuana in November, 2016 through the passage of Proposition 64, it wasn’t until January, 2018 when legal sales began to take place. Under the law those 21 and older are allowed to purchase up to an ounce of dried marijuana and up to eight grams of marijuana concentrates such as hash and oil. In California marijuana has a 15% excise tax placed on all sales. This is considerably lower than the 37% rate levied in neighboring Washington State.
The top earning period of marijuana taxes in California was Q2, 2021 with $361 million in taxes earned from $1.56 billion in sales , followed by Q3 of the same year with $348 million which came from $1.43 billion in sales. The next top quarter was Q3, 2020 with $332 million garnered from $1.343 billion in sales.
In Q1, 2018, the first period of legal sales, the state made $73 billion in taxes from $408 million in sales.
More data on California marijuana tax revenue can be found here.
