CARSON CITY, Nev. – Nevada retailers reported more than $1 billion in medicinal and recreational sales between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, according to a report from the Department of Taxation and the Cannabis Compliance Board. The figure nearly doubles the $685 million in cannabis retail sales during the previous twelve-month period.
As might be expected, Clark County—home to Las Vegas—contributed the lion’s share of the proceeds: $791 million, which tops the sales volume for the entire state during the previous year. Washoe County, home to Reno, boasted the second-highest volume at $135 million.
The state collects a 10-percent excise tax on recreational sales and a 15-percent tax on wholesale sales; those monies are earmarked by law for public education. So, for FY 2021, the state’s education fund received an infusion of about $159 million. School districts could receive a windfall when the first licensed consumption lounges open in 2022.
Nevada isn’t alone in the $1-billion-in-sales club. Illinois officials said retailers in their state have sold that much recreational cannabis alone so far this year.
The country’s biggest market, California, collected about $817 million in adult-use excise taxes during fiscal year 2021, which ended June 30 — a 55-percent increase over the previous year’s revenue.
