Arizona residents love their weed: cannabis sales to hit $1.4 billion in 2021

By Nina Zdinjak

Grand Canyon state set another marijuana sales record when residents spent more than $1.4 billion on cannabis in the first year after voters approved recreational cannabis in November 2020, as nearly 60% of voters did Said “yes” to Prop 207, which is said to be Smart & Safe.

Data from the Arizona Department of Revenue showed the adult market has grossed nearly $650 million, though sales didn’t start until Jan. 22, 2021, the Arizona Mirror reported. Medical marijuana, which has been around for about 10 years, grossed $752 million in 2021.

Photo by IURII BUKHTA/Getty Images

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Interestingly, December adult sales surpassed medical cannabis for the second time, grossing nearly $67.2 million versus $53.5 million. In addition, December sales set a record for the third consecutive year, surpassing November sales of $64 million.

When adult cannabis sales started last January, they made $11.4 million in about 10 days. At the time, Harvest Health, now owned by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. was taken over, the only pharmacy that was ready for sale, which was expected to start in March. Other marijuana stores wasted no time expanding their business into medicinal cannabis.

Because Arizona levies a 16% excise tax on recreational sales in addition to the standard sales tax, cannabis sales made a notable tax contribution last year.

At the end of 2021, adult-use marijuana sales generated more than $104.1 million in excise taxes and tax revenue totaled $113.5 million. After accounting for sales taxes on medicinal cannabis, total cannabis sales in the state contributed nearly $218 million to state funds.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.