Half of the revenue derived from Arkansas’ medical cannabis sales — or $25 million — was collected over the last nine months, KATV reports. Medical cannabis sales began in Arkansas in 2019 and the state started collecting industry taxes and fees in the middle of that year, which have totaled $50 million.
In all, since May 2019, Arkansans have spent $430 million on nearly 64,000 pounds of medical cannabis, spokesman for the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission, Scott Hardin, told KATV. Medical cannabis is taxed 10.5% in the state, along with the state’s 6.5% retail sales tax on most retail items in the state. There are 78,000 registered medical cannabis patients in the state.
“If you walk into a dispensary and spend $100, you’ll spend $10.50 additionally in state taxes. Those two taxes, we’ve collected just under $50,000,000 — $49.6 million to be specific.” — Hardin to KATV
Last month, the Department of Finance and Administration reported that, from mid-July through August, Arkansans spent $33 million to purchase 5,038 pounds of medical cannabis at dispensaries in the state, an increase of $6.5 million in sales compared to earlier figures.
Good Day Farm Director of Retail Mike Bonis told KATV that while “a lot of people in the industry were worried about the high tax raise” associated with medical cannabis in the state where cannabis “is not very socially accepted,” the company “is just happy to have a program and be able to get back to the community.”
“…And we try to do our best to end those stigmas that have been brought to this industry,” Bonis said. “As far as I’ve seen I can tell you a lot fewer people are stressed in Arkansas right now.”
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