Colorado marijuana sales crack $6 billion since 2014 legalization, state says

Colorado marijuana businesses have sold more than $6 billion worth of weed and related products since a voter-approved measure allowing adults over the age of 21 to consume recreational pot took effect in the state on Jan. 1, 2014.

The milestone figure was highlighted Tuesday in a news release from the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division, the agency tasked with overseeing both recreational and medical cannabis businesses in the state.

Colorado crossed the $6 billion sales threshold thanks to a record-setting 2018. Sales surpassed $1.55 billion for the year, beating the record of more than $1.51 billion set in 2017.

The sales have Colorado on the cusp of another milestone: $1 billion in marijuana tax, licensing and fee revenue. As of the end of January, the state had collected $927 million from those categories — covering both recreational and medical marijuana businesses — since adult-use pot became legal in 2014. Colorado collected more than $266.5 million in taxes, fees and licensing payments in 2018 alone.  [Read more at The Denver Post]