Colorado Weed Sales Hit $1 Billion

In just eight months Colorado marijuana sales have topped the $1 Billion dollar mark.

Wow! That's all I can say. Coming from the "dry" state of Kansas it's hard to imagine that kind of quantity and that kind of revenue. You locals that have been here since the beginning in 2014 may not be all that surprised but it's shocking to me. Shock or not, the fact is a bona fide billion dollar industry now exists where there was none just a few years ago.

Sales continue to grow. So far in 2017, it's up over %20 percent with recreational and medical marijuana sales well over $800 million dollars. The experts claim the market will reach it's peak sometime but nobody's quite sure when that will happen.

Colorado’s yearly sales totals:
2014: $699,198,805
2015: $996,184,788
2016: $1,313,156,545

The Colorado tax revenue collected is over $160 million so far in 2017. The recreational marijuana tax rate was increased to 15 percent from 10 percent in July. Medical marijuana is still at the 2.9 percent sales tax rate.

Whatever side of the law you fall on, the fact is these numbers are staggering. They're really hard for this mid-west guy to comprehend. What the future holds, nobody's quite sure but there's no question the arrival of this new industry has been a Colorado game-changer.

Credit: The Cannabist