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If additional tax revenues are the proverbial carrot-and-stick that will convince state legislators across the nation to buy into the idea of legalizing marijuana, then Colorados recent numbers are sure to have lawmakers frothing at the mouth. Weve been aware the grand experiment that is marijuana legalization, playing out in both Washington and Colorado, has been a success on some level. But new numbers show states could benefit even more than anyone predicted.
Colorado, which enacted its legal marijuana trade nearly two years ago, has been raking in tax revenues with surprising efficiency. But the most recent numbers from the states Department of Revenue show marijuana taxes are outweighing other revenue streams, even alcohol. Over the course of the past year, Colorado has seen $70 million in marijuana taxes filter into state coffers.
Alcohol sales? A mere $42 million.
According to a recent article from The Daily Caller, a big reason for the massive gap between the two is that Americans simply spend more money on cannabis, and cannabis-related products, than they do on either alcohol or tobacco. Citing market research from Marijuana Business Daily, it appears that in states where marijuana has been legalized, average spending on cannabis tallies up to $1,800 annually in contrast to $450 on alcohol, and $315 on tobacco.
Its important to keep in mind these figures only represent two states, both of which take a much more lax attitude overall toward marijuana use than other states. So, those figures could change as new data becomes available.
Either way, its clear that Colorado seems to have struck gold. In fact, the state has even decided to try and attract more potential consumers to the legal marijuana market by enacting a marijuana tax holiday. That holiday took place on September 16, and led to a rather large spike in foot traffic and sales for the states marijuana businesses.
Theyve been setting up doing their advertisements and telling their customers to come on down for special deals, said Tyler Henson, president of the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, per The Denver Post.
The results? An apparent home run for the Colorado industry.