In April, Vermont’s legal marijuana sales reached nearly $11 million, marking the fifth consecutive month with sales surpassing $10 million and the ninth time in the past ten months it’s reached that milestone.
According to the Vermont Department of Taxes, there was $10.94 million in legal marijuana sales in April, bringing the yearly total to around $45 million. Marijuana sales brought in $1.53 million in tax revenue for April, and around $6 million for the year.
Although marijuana sales in April slightly declined from March’s $11.31 million, they were still nearly $3 million higher than the previous April.
Vermont legalized recreational marijuana in January 2018, becoming the first state to do so through a legislative process rather than a ballot initiative. Under the law, adults aged 21 and over can possess up to one ounce of marijuana and cultivate up to two mature and four immature cannabis plants per household.
The 2018 law did not authorize commercial sales of cannabis; it focused instead on personal cultivation and possession. In 2020, the Vermont legislature passed a bill to regulate and tax the sale of recreational marijuana, which Governor Phil Scott allowed to become law without his signature. The commercial market opened in 2022, with taxes on legal marijuana including a 14% excise tax on retail sales, in addition to the state’s standard 6% sales tax.
Vermont’s medical marijuana law, enacted in 2004, allows patients with qualifying medical conditions to possess and use cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Additionally, the law permits these patients to purchase marijuana and marijuana products tax-free.”
