Nevada retailers sold more than $1 billion in medicinal and recreational cannabis over a single fiscal period, state officials announced today.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) and the Nevada Department of Taxation published findings that exhibit $1.03B in taxable cannabis purchases in the fiscal year 2021, running from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
For an idea of what the projections as mentioned above look like side-by-side, gross cannabis sales for the prior 2020 fiscal year amounted to $684.5 million.
The majority of the cannabis purchases, nearly $800 million, were generated from Clark County. Notably, this is where the popular tourist attraction Las Vegas is located. Another $135 million of cannabis was generated in Washoe County. Geographically, this is where Reno is located. Reno is the principal city in that area. The remaining $78 million came from other counties in Nevada.
Ten percent of tax revenue from recreational cannabis commerce supports pubic education funding, as designated under a law that Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed beforehand.
‘This is what the people of Nevada expect due to the legalization of recreational cannabis,’ the governor stated in a press release about the new sales metrics. ‘Education remains one of my uppermost priorities, and I’m proud to see secured tax revenue from cannabis sales directly funding our scholars and schoolhouses.’ Earlier this summer, Sisolak also signed a law to legalize cannabis consumption lounges (i.e., cannabis cafes) in the state.
The governor of Nevada also committed to advancing equity and justice in the state’s cannabis legislation. In 2020, for instance, he pardoned approximately 15,000 people who were convicted for ‘basic’ cannabis possession.
That work was made possible under a decision the governor began unanimously approved by Nevada’s Board of Pardons Commissioners.
Meanwhile, other states across the nation have been praising cannabis sales, and the tax revenue yielded as cannabis markets continue to grow. Pun intended.
For instance, Illinois cannabis retailers have sold $1 billion worth of legal recreational cannabis products in 2021.
Earlier this summer, Maine recreational cannabis commerce broke another sales record. The lobster roll state generated upwards of $10 million for the first time since the launch of the adult-use market in the Fall of 2020.
Arizona scraped up roughly $21.5 million in medicinal and adult-use cannabis tax revenue this summer. AZ officials published a website that allows people to more easily monitor how the cannabis industry is evolving.
Last month, California received about $820million in adult-use cannabis tax revenue throughout the 2020-2021 fiscal year, state officials projected. That’s 55 percent more cannabis earnings for state coffers than was generated in the prior fiscal year.
A new scientific study on sales metrics in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington discovered that cannabis sales ‘have grown more throughout the COVID-19 pandemic than in the two years before.
In July, three states witnessed record-breaking sales for recreational cannabis.
According to Michigan’s regulatory body metrics, Michigan cannabis sales shattered another record this summer with more than $170 million in cannabis sales. There were $130 million in adult-use sales and $43.5 million in medicinal cannabis sales.
During the pandemic, a litany of states allowed cannabis retailers to remain open for business. Moreover, governors and lawmakers in a slew of markets declared cannabis businesses to be essential services. Some municipalities issued emergency orders permitting curbside pickup, delivery services, and more flexible policies to promote social distancing.
Meanwhile, New York lawmakers are projecting that cannabis tax revenue will help keep the state’s budget intact as cigarette sales continue to plummet over the coming years. The reason cigarette sales are down is an obvious one: because everyone smokes cannabis now.