For the first time in state history, legal marijuana sales in Vermont surpassed $12 million in a single month.
According to the Vermont Department of Taxes, licensed dispensaries and retail outlets sold $12.27 million worth of marijuana and marijuana products in July, up from $11.14 million in June.
July’s sales generated $1.72 million in tax revenue.
So far in 2024, Vermont has seen nearly $80 million in marijuana sales, yielding over $10 million in taxes.
Vermont legalized recreational marijuana in January 2018, becoming the first state to do so via their legislature rather than a voter-approved 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.
Of the excise tax revenue, 30% is allocated to fund substance abuse prevention programs, with the remaining 70% deposited into the state’s General Fund.
