Medical marijuana sales in Colorado top $1 billion

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The medical marijuana industry brought a windfall of tax revenue to the state

Colorado marijuana sales are high. According to a recent report, the state sold more than $1 billion in marijuana through this past August. This is certainly good news for entrepreneurs and business owners, but it is also good news for the state. At the current tax rates, the marijuana industry added $200 million to the state’s coffers through the same period.

Based on recent figures, 2018 could be a financial boom year for Colorado. It is now on course to bring in more than the state saw last year – $1.5 billion. Until August of last year, $996 million worth of marijuana was sold, meaning that the last four months of the year saw a significant increase in activity.

The majority of the sales have taken place in the counties of Denver, Pueblo and El Paso. Those three grow 80% of all the marijuana plants cultivated in the Centennial State, according to a report by Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.

Medical marijuana use was first legalized in the state in 2000 after more than half of the state’s voters approved Amendment 20, a piece of legislation that altered the Constitution to recognize marijuana use as a right in certain circumstances. Thanks to Amendment 64 in 2012, recreational marijuana use was legalized and paved the way for industry expansion. The amendment was finally implemented in 2014.

Colorado is one of only nine states in the country to have legalized recreational marijuana. The others are Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Massachusetts, Nevada, Maine, Rhode Island and California. In addition, recreational use is legal in Washington, DC.