The entire country is looking to Colorado and Washington as they take the lead on the recreational marijuana front. One of the major appeals, of course, is the amount of revenue expected to be generated by those looking to toke up. New data, however, shows that, at least for now, Colorado weed isn’t as fruitful as initially expected.
According to the Denver Post, the state of Colorado lined its pockets with just over $2 million in recreational tax revenue in January. As you can see in the data table below, about $1.4 million came from a newly implemented marijuana sales tax at a 10 percent rate while the normative 2.9 percent sales tax on retail marijuana pulled down $416,690. A 15 percent excise tax on retail marijuana netted $195,318.
And while multiple millions of dollars in income sounds rich to you and me, it doesn’t to Colorado officials.
The Post notes further that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and his constituents predicted that, within six months, recreational marijuana sales would top $190 million.
The slow start can easily be attributed to the stigma that, while dulled due to the new law, is still attached in some form or capacity to marijuana use. In that respect, consumers may be less willing to get their feet wet in weed.
Similarly, the consolidated 37.9 percent tax on a bag of weed boosts the price for what usually costs approximately $25 illegally, according to the Huffington Post, to anywhere between $35 and $70 after taxes.
But are subpar yields a strong indicator of things to come? Will other states, like liberal Massachusetts, see this as a sign not to jump into the weed pool head first?
Not really and unlikely.
Bostinno caught up with Kevin Franck, a former spokesperson for Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, who indicated that these early glitches are bound to happen.
“It’s taken a long time for public policy on marijuana to catch up to science, so it isn’t surprising that there are still some kinks in the system in Colorado or Massachusetts,” explained Franck. “It would be unfortunate if efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use here in the commonwealth suffer because of perceived early setbacks of the medical marijuana program.”
One must also consider that the full extent of marijuana benefits reach beyond monetary value. Legalizing pot is likely to alleviate the overcrowded prison system – chock full of culprits put behind bars due to weed-related charges. It will also open up substance abuse treatment for those who are addicts but were treated like criminals.
“I think voters are smart enough to see the difference between the challenges of regulating a previously outlawed substance and the need to end marijuana prohibition,” continued Franck. “We’re sending too many people to jail for getting caught with a plant than is less harmful that alcohol and pushing real addiction issues into the shadows instead of pursuing smarter marijuana policy that could benefit us all.”
In the meantime, though, nearly every gubernatorial candidate vying to replace Governor Deval Patrick on Beacon Hill has expressed their interest in recreational marijuana. However, they still want to continue watching the progression of Colorado and Washington.
