By Connecticut collected $23 million worth of cannabis in May this year. NBC coverage. And this number is nothing out of the ordinary. The raw numbers show that the amount of money earned from adult cannabis sales has increased each month this year. in April, Connecticut earned $21 million from legal cannabis sales.
Of the total $23 million earned in May, $11.5 million came from recreational sales and $11.2 million came from the medical cannabis market, according to a report from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
A common argument for cannabis legalization is the revenue generated from its sale. If you need to convince conservatives and libertarians about why cannabis should be legal, show them the money. In Connecticut, medical marijuana patients purchased more than 312,000 products and adult-use consumers purchased more than 292,000, officials said. According to DCP data, medical cannabis patients spend an average of $35.86, while recreational purchases rise slightly to $39.47.
according to CT mirrorThe Connecticut government is on track to post the second-largest budget surplus in state history this summer. And a good chunk of that seems to come from cannabis sales.
Preliminary data, which reports about $23 million worth of cannabis, does not yet take into account taxes collected at the point of sale for adult purchases, pending further scrutiny by the department. Because medical cannabis is medicinal, medical cannabis patients do not pay taxes on the purchase of the product (I am still very positive to hear that the government has finally recognized the role of this plant as medicine rather than dreaded medicine. felt).
Connecticut legalized cannabis in 2012. Adult use was passed in June 2021, and adult sales began in licensed retail stores in January 2023. A medical patient can buy up to 5 ounces a month and doesn’t have to deal with individual trade limits, but if he buys recreational weed, each trade he buys a quarter ounce of fresh flowers, or Equivalent.
But remember, despite those numbers, it’s still hard to make money from cannabis as an entrepreneur. Take a look at California, known as the holy land of pot. The state is currently experiencing a “mass exodus,” with brands such as Jerry Garcia’s Garcia Handpicked cannabis line shutting down after failing to generate value due to California tax rates. The cannabis excise tax is 15% of retail sales of cannabis or cannabis products. in California. This figure is in line with Connecticut’s tax based on THC content, which costs around 10-15% of the selling price. Combined, Connecticut’s total tax rate on cannabis is about 20% of the retail tag for cannabis sales, and is comparable to Massachusetts’ tax rate. Furthermore, according to Marijuana Revenue and Regulation ActCannabis companies pay an effective federal tax rate as high as 80%.
In addition to taxes, cannabis businesses face other hurdles. Raising capital through financing is difficult for cannabis companies. Despite Promoting Social Equity (and Connecticut’s First Social Equity Cannabis Delivery Company) Operation started from this month), high entry fees make it difficult for communities affected by the war on drugs, especially those facing legal costs from incarceration, to enter the market. In addition, products cannot cross state borders, so interstate trade is not possible, so if you want to sell in multiple states, you have to build everything from farms to factories. These are issues the government has not yet addressed, so despite the optimistic numbers, the US is probably not yet in a position to celebrate the benefits of legalization at the state level.
