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.
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 [email protected] or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.
Subscribe to Denverite’s newsletter here.
