Colorado marijuana sales top $750 million at 2017 midpoint
Published: Aug 10, 2017, 3:28 pm • Updated: Aug 11, 2017, 8:04 am
By Alicia Wallace, The Cannabist Staff
Halfway through 2017, Colorado’s marijuana retailers amassed more than $750 million in sales, according to The Cannabist’s extrapolations of the latest tax data released by the state.
Covering both the medical and adult-use markets, the sales of flower, edibles and concentrates through June 2017 are up 25.7 percent compared with the first half of 2016, The Cannabist’s calculations show.
The cumulative sales made through June equate to nearly $116 million in tax revenue and license fees for the state.
The Colorado Department of Revenue on Thursday published the report for marijuana sales and excise taxes remitted in July. The receipts largely reflect sales made in June, but could include some variance based on incomplete or late returns from prior months.
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Barring any major variance in returns, June appears to have been a near-record month for Colorado’s marijuana shops, with $131.65 million in total sales. That would trail the high of $131.69 million set earlier this year in March, but extends the streak of $100 million monthly sales to 13 months.
Adult-use transactions accounted for $95.54 million, or more than 72 percent, of June’s sales. The $36.11 million of medical marijuana products sold remains in line with the monthly averages for 2016 and 2017.
As Colorado’s marijuana industry continues to mature, the annual growth rates are expected to slowly ratchet down, analysts have said.
Bethany Gomez, director of research for cannabis market research firm Brightfield Group, told The Cannabist last month:
“What you’re seeing in Colorado is similar to other industries, we’re starting to see lower double-digit growth rates, rather than the triple-digit growth rates.
“That time of massive growth expansion in Colorado, I think, is over.”
Sales stats for Colorado weed A month-by-month look comparing sales of recreational and medical marijuana, as calculated by The Cannabist: 2017 Recreational total (6 months)
$531,616,125 2017 Medical total (6 months)
$219,657,419 2017: $751,273,544 2016 Recreational total (12 months)
$875,277,360 2016 Medical total (12 months)
$437,879,186 2016: $1,313,156,545 Source: Colorado Dept. of Revenue sales tax data; graphic by Kevin Hamm, The Denver Post
Topics: Colorado, colorado recreational marijuana sales, colorado tax results, marijuana sales, pot taxes, recreational marijuana sales, shops, taxes
Alicia Wallace
Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. In her 14 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the economy, natural foods, airlines, biotech, retail,…
