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Denver Marijuana Tax Revenue Exceeds Half a Billion Dollars

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DENVER — According to news reports, data released this week by the city of Denver shows tax revenue from legal marijuana sales has generated more than half a billion dollars for the city since 2010. The news comes less than a couple weeks after the Colorado Department of Revenue announced state marijuana tax revenue has exceeded $2.5 billion.

From 2010 to August 2023, regulated cannabis businesses conducted about $5.7 billion in legal sales of adult-use and medical marijuana, producing $501,538,144 in local tax revenue. The revenue has been used to support affordable housing ($61.7 million), homelessness services ($30 million), education ($27 million), small business investment ($10 million), and opioid intervention ($4 million).

“Colorado’s cannabis industry has fulfilled legalization’s promise of substantial tax revenue for our state and local communities,” said Chuck Smith, president of the board of directors at Colorado Leads. “These businesses are not only generating revenue, but also creating jobs, utilizing the products and services of other local businesses, and making charitable contributions to a wide range of local causes.”

Earlier this month, Colorado Leads hosted a golf tournament that raised thousands of dollars for the Denver Assessment, Intake, and Diversion (AID) Center, a crucial connection point to comprehensive community and systems-based services for justice-involved individuals and others.

“While our economic impacts tend to grab the headlines, we are most proud of our industry’s commitment to regulatory compliance and enhancing public safety,” Smith said. “Regulated marijuana businesses ensure adults who choose to consume cannabis can purchase it safely and legally. They also take great care to prevent cannabis from being sold to minors.”

Late last week, the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division announced the compliance rate for underage sales checks reached a record high 99% in 2022.

Colorado Leads Guest Column in The Colorado Sun

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The Colorado Sun published a guest column by Colorado Leads Board President Chuck Smith regarding the strong public support for legal medical cannabis in Colorado and the success of the state’s efforts to regulate it.

In the nine years since Colorado became the first state in the country to legalize adult-use marijuana, three things have become clear: the vast majority of Coloradans support legalization and consider cannabis as medicine (Opinion: After 20 years, it’s clear that marijuana is not ‘medicine’, Colorado Sun, Jan. 4).

They also believe kids should not have access to it unless it’s for medical treatment.

Nowhere is this more evident than in two Colorado laws that have just gone into effect. One closes a loophole by restricting young people with medical cards from accessing unlimited marijuana products, a practice known as “looping.” The other expands the right of students with “valid medical marijuana recommendation(s)” to access their medication at school.

Both laws are representative of the consistent collaboration among elected officials, regulators, and public-health experts and the cannabis industry, its customers, and patients. Over the last decade, the state has protected kids through responsible regulations, such as enhanced child-proof packaging, and strong education campaigns, while also recognizing that cannabis is critical medicine for post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, epileptic seizures, insomnia, and numerous other medical conditions.

The ability for multiple stakeholders and elected officials to fairly balance these complicated interests is the primary reason Colorado’s regulations are considered the strongest in the country and continue to be held up as a model for other states.

Read the rest of the article at The Colorado Sun.

What a long, strange trip its been

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U.S. Sen./presidential hopeful Michael Bennet joked on Seth Meyers that Denver decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms, fearing that Colorado is running out of marijuana.

“And by the way, we’re not out of marijuana in Colorado,” Bennet said.

“That’s what it says on the state flag now, right?” Meyers said.

“Yeah, exactly,” Bennet replied.

Read More »

 

Help us . . .  asks The New York Times?

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The Gray Lady wants to better understand how Coloradans are adapting to the state’s legalization of cannabis.  You can fill out a form right on The Times website.

Fill out the Form Here »