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Nevada Collects $30M in Cannabis Tax Revenue During First Six Months of Sales

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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]N[/dropcap]evada’s move to legalize recreational cannabis last year has brought unprecedented profit both to the state and to cannabis retailers for the first six months of legal sales. Thanks to this success, the state is now reporting that it has collected over $30 million in recreational cannabis tax revenue over the course of the past six months.

Nevada jumped ahead of other states such as newly legalized cannabis states like California, Maine and Massachusetts, when it decided to launch its legalization program six months before any of the other state’s deadlines. Originally, the state had issues meeting the demand of residents and tourists, which prompted a state of emergency. Dispensaries were running out of product due to the fact that cannabis could only be transported to them by a company that was licensed to distribute liquor as well as cannabis.

Nevada imposes a 15 percent tax on wholesale and a 10 percent tax on sales of recreational cannabis. Medical cannabis patients, however, are not required to pay the 10 percent excise tax. “Every time you buy something here, 33-cents is going to taxes. This is the most heavily taxed and regulated industry in the whole state,” said State Senator Tick Segerbloom, who is considered to be the “godfather” of Nevada’s cannabis industry.

In contrast, Colorado recorded $22.56 million in sales the first four months of legal recreational cannabis sales in the state back in 2014.

Nevada’s first month of cannabis sales alone netted over $3.7 million dollars in tax revenue. The state reached a peak in tax revenue last October, when collected revenue rose above $5.8 million dollars. Given the state’s high traffic in tourism through Las Vegas, the state’s Department of Taxation expected successful results such as this. “We are pretty on target with projections, maybe a little over,” said Spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein.

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