A new report published by the U.S. Census Bureau gives details on tax revenue made from legal marijuana sales since the third quarter of 2021.
The U.S. Census Bureau has released “a new experimental data product featuring quarterly tax collections at the state level for cannabis sales”. The Quarterly Summary of State and Local Government Tax Revenue report provides quarterly estimates of state and local government tax revenue at a national level, as well as detailed tax revenue data for individual states. The information contained in this survey “is the most current information available on a nationwide basis for government tax collections”, according to the Bureau.
The report found that California garnered the most marijuana taxes in the nation at $1.4 billion. This was followed by Washington and Colorado with $818.5 million and $648.1 million. Washington and Colorado were simultaneously the first states to legalize marijuana in November, 2012, while California legalized marijuana in 2016.
In Oregon, a state that legalized in 2014, there has been $364.6 million in marijuana taxes made from Q3, 2021 to the most recent quarter.
Illinois, has garnered nearly half a billion dollars in marijuana taxes despite having legalized not long ago in 2019. During the same period alcohol sales in the state were considerably lower at $316 million.
In August the Bureau announced that it would start to take the growing marijuana industry into consideration.
“It is important for the Census Bureau to keep up with changes in technology and ask the right questions the right way to capture relevant information. In preparation for this economic census, the Census Bureau worked extensively with industry experts and researchers to update the survey.”
