States that legalized marijuana are bringing in more tax revenue on pot sales than alcohol

A majority of the states that legalized recreational marijuana for recreational use are collecting more tax revenue from pot sales than alcohol sales.

The first two states to legalize pot are profiting the most, Colorado and Washington. Across the country, the total revenue for taxes on weed amounted to nearly $3 billion, according to a report on “sin taxes” by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).

So far, 11 states have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana.

The states that have given recreational marijuana legalization the green-light are Colorado, Washington, California, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Alaska.

All but four of the above states collected more excise tax revenue from weed sales than alcohol.

Other items subject to what is known as a “sin tax” are tobacco products and alcohol sales.

One of the exceptions is Alaska, which is attributed to the fact that the Last Frontier “has a higher alcohol tax rate than most states (15 cents per shot of liquor, for example),” according to the ITEP report.

The remaining three outliers are Maine, Michigan and Oregon, because these three states are called “control states,” since each of the said state governments operate quite profitable state-run liquor stores, according to the ITEP report. [Read more at The Center Square]

The post States that legalized marijuana are bringing in more tax revenue on pot sales than alcohol appeared first on Cannabis Business Executive - Cannabis and Marijuana industry news.