Many who speculated that Nevada would become a destination for cannabis after the state launched recreational cannabis sales in July, may be right on the money. The state’s Department of Taxation has released figures indicating that in the month of October, Nevada’s cannabis vendors sold $38 million of cannabis products.
Between a ten percent excise tax on cannabis and a 15 percent wholesale tax, October’s sales generated nearly $6 million for Nevada in revenue.
Year-to-date sales are north of $126 million since recreational sales began in July, with more than $19 million it tax revenue for the state. Overall, sales since July show an upward trend.
Media outlets, including Forbes, noted that Nevada’s sales figures for the first four months of recreational sales already exceed sales for the same time period, when Colorado’s recreational market launched in 2014, which reported $22.56 million in sales, and was the first recreational market to establish in the U.S.
Nevada State Senator and marijuana legalization advocate Tick Segerblom told the Las Vegas Sun the figure were “’encouraging,’ and [Segerblom] expected monthly tax revenue to exceed $10 million by 2019.”
Revenue collected from the wholesale tax funds state and local regulation of the cannabis industry and, by law, any surplus funds go to Nevada’s Distributive School Account. Excise tax revenues are sent to the Nevada Rainy Day Fund.
Several media outlets reported that Nevada vendors are unconcerned at California’s January 1 roll out of recreational cannabis sales. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, anticipated to be the Golden State’s largest markets, recreational will sales will be delayed while new state and local licensing requirements are imposed.
