Colorado marijuana industry surpasses $1 billion in sales

CHLOE
Marijuana hangs to cure at Verde Natural's Northeast Park Hill grow facility. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)  marijuana; pot; weed; verde natural; tommy chong; grow; agriculture; kevinjbeaty; denver; denverite; colorado;

Marijuana hangs to cure at Verde Natural's Northeast Park Hill grow facility. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

As of October 2016, sales of medical and recreational marijuana in Colorado surpassed $1 billion for the first time since legalization.

Data released Monday by the Colorado Department of Revenue shows sales of medical and recreational marijuana totaling $1,092,159,291 in the first 10 months of 2016. By comparison, at the close of 2015, sales fell short of $1 billion by a little less than $4 million.

“We think we’ll see $1.3 billion in sales revenue this year,” Christian Sederberg, a partner with Vicente Sederberg, told the Cannabist.

In April 2016, the 4/20 holiday helped revenue reach an all-time high, totaling approximately $117 million that month. But sales increased all summer.

September’s $127,820,846 in revenue surpassed April’s by about $10 million, setting new records for the highest revenue month in industry history and beating the previous September’s revenue by about $33 million.

In terms of taxes, Sederberg estimated that 2016’s total will eclipse combined tax totals from 2014 and 2015.

Trimmer Daniel Newkirk works inside Verde Natural's grow facility. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Trimmer Daniel Newkirk works inside Verde Natural's grow facility. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

In 2014, the state collected $63.4 million from marijuana taxes. In 2015, taxes totaled $120.6 million.

Year-to-date taxes for 2016 total $151,366,863 from marijuana, meaning tax revenue would need total about $16.5 million per month for November and December to satisfy Sederberg’s predictions.

Final tax and revenue totals for 2016 will be released in February 2017.

Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at caiello@denverite.com or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.

Subscribe to Denverite’s newsletter here.

Weird times

Denverite is powered by you. In these weird times, the local vigilance, the local context, the local flavor — it’s powered through your donations. If you’d miss Denverite if it disappeared tomorrow, donate today.

You’re our superpower

Denverite supporters have made the decision to financially support local journalism that matters to you. Ready to tell your networks why? Sharing our “About” page with your own personal comments could really help us out.

You’re our superpower

Denverite members have made the decision to financially support local journalism that matters to you. Ready to tell your networks why? Sharing our “About” page with your own personal comments could really help us out.