Marijuana sales in Colorado for the calendar year 2016 grew 33 percent compared with last year, according to figures released last week, to $1.3 billion. That is a “B.”
For the state, there had been $700 million in sales during 2014 and $996 million in sales during 2015. The mix between recreational and medical marijuana sales revenues for 2016 was 2-to-1, $875 million to $438 million.
The 2016 sales led to $200 million in taxes for the fiscal year ended June 30. Given the revenue figures, that will be significantly higher for the current fiscal year. Marijuana is taxed at both the wholesale and the retail stages, totaling about 25 percent.
At home, the city of Durango is reporting approximately $10 million (an “M”) in marijuana sales for 2016 in the central business district. To provide some perspective, that exceeds liquor sales in the central business district, and hardware and utilities. From the other end of the spectrum, marijuana sales were less than sales in galleries, sporting goods stores and miscellaneous retail locations. Grocery and drug sales, and restaurants and bar business, at about $70 million each far exceeded other categories, as can be expected in the central business district.
The summer and early fall months, July through October, were the strongest marijuana sales months statewide in 2016.
Whether sales can be broken down according to the purchaser’s residence, is uncertain. Non-Coloradans cannot purchase as much marijuana as can residents, yet there is a marijuana tourism component to sales.
State marijuana taxes fund school construction, addiction-treatment services and law enforcement, uses included in the ballot language.
To help fund pre-K thorough 12th grade education, funding which has fallen behind its constitutional mandate, Gov. John Hickenlooper has requested that marijuana taxes be increased by 50 percent. If that is approved, the effect on the volume of marijuana sales is uncertain. It may well have no effect.
Marijuana advocates who tied significant tax rates to the approval of recreational marijuana knew what they were doing. Marijuana has quickly become a noted component of overall tax revenue, making its use much less likely to be ended, at least by the state. Whether the president and his attorney general turn their attention to the several states that have approved medical or recreational marijuana remains to be seen.
Given the size of this new business, it is appropriate that Durango and La Plata County are closely following its growth and considering adjusting the regulations that apply to it.
