Legal States raised nearly $4 billion in legal marijuana revenue in 2021

A new report reveals some big numbers when it comes to cannabis tax revenue generated by legal weed states, which took in more than $3.7 billion in 2021. This is an increase of 34% compared to 2020.

The updated report, compiled by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and released Wednesday, also found that legal marijuana has generated over $11.2 billion in tax revenue since March 2022 since 2014, when marijuana was first legal in Colorado and Washington was legalized.

RELATED: These states have the highest cannabis sales taxes in America

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“Our report is further evidence that ending cannabis prohibition has tremendous financial benefits for state governments,” said Tori Hutchinson, President and CEO of MPP. “The legalization and regulation of adult-use cannabis has generated billions of dollars in tax revenue, funded vital state-level services and programs, and created thousands of jobs across the country. Meanwhile, states that are lagging behind continue to squander government resources enforcing archaic cannabis laws that harm far too many Americans.”

One of the main benefits of legal cannabis is the fact that this tax revenue can be used for a variety of services that affect and benefit the state, such as education, veteran services, job training, reinvesting in war-affected communities on drugs, and more.

Each year, federally legal marijuana seems to be a clearer possibility, even if the process is slow. Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Medical Marijuana Research Act, which expands the available research on marijuana and could benefit legal marijuana in the long term.

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“Cannabis has a wide range of therapeutic uses, but researchers have consistently faced significant obstacles in conducting studies. Research is key to evaluating and unlocking the full potential of cannabis, and we applaud the House for passing legislation that would greatly expand the allowable range of cannabis for study,” said Steven Hawkins, CEO of the US Cannabis Council.

Here are some crunching numbers:

Total tax revenue 2021 for each state:
•Alaska: $28,900,231
• Arizona: $153,824,757
• California: $1,294,632,799
• Colorado: $396,157,005
• Illinois: $424,206,703
• Maine: $12,362,622
• Massachusetts: $227,474,842
• Michigan: $209,912,278
• Nevada: $159,885,501
•Oregon: $177,773,944
• Washington: $630,863,570

Total tax revenue for each year:
• 2014: $68,503,980
• 2015: $264,211,871
• 2016: $530,521,110
• 2017: $723,145,481
• 2018: $1,275,483,830
• 2019: $1,707,204,090
• 2020: $2,766,027,570
• 2021: $3,715,994,252

The MORE Act, also recently passed by the House of Representatives, could help remove marijuana from the controlled substances list and eliminate conflicts between federal and state laws by allowing states to enact their own rules regarding cannabis enacted