For the third consecutive month marijuana sales in Vermont topped $12 million.
July was the first month in Vermont where marijuana sales reached $12 million. In the months since, the market has maintained sales levels above $12 million.
According to the Vermont Department of Taxes, there was $12.08 million in marijuana and marijuana products sold in September, a decrease from the $13 million sold in August, but a substantial increase from the $10.4 million sold last September. September sales resulted in $1.7 million in tax revenue.
Vermont’s year-to-date sales for marijuana is now above $100 million, with all-time sales above $200 million.
In January 2018, Vermont became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through legislative action rather than a voter-approved initiative. The law allows adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and cultivate up to two mature and four immature cannabis plants per household.
Although the 2018 law did not include provisions for commercial sales, it emphasized personal cultivation and possession. In 2020, Vermont’s legislature passed a bill to regulate and tax recreational marijuana sales, which Governor Phil Scott allowed to become law without his signature. The legal market officially opened in 2022, with retail marijuana sales subject to a 14% excise tax in addition to the state’s 6% sales tax.
Of the revenue generated from the excise tax, 30% is allocated to substance abuse prevention programs, while the remaining 70% is directed to the state’s General Fund.
