Colorado Cannabis Sales Declined $20 Million In February

Colorado cannabis sales reached $167 million in February – a $20 million decline from January but sales in the state are still outpacing 2020 figures so far this year by $78 million, according to state Department of Revenue data outlined by The Center Square. The totals includes both medical and retail sales in the state.

Denver County represented nearly a third of the state’s overall cannabis sales over the first two months with $52 million in combined sales.

In all, the state collected more than $33 million in cannabis-derived tax revenues in March, a 4% decrease from the previous month, the report says.

Customers in Colorado are charged a 2.9% sales tax, along with a 15% cannabis retail sales tax, and municipalities can add local sales taxes that are sometimes more than 20%. The state also imposes a 15% excise tax on wholesale sales or transfers of retail cannabis and license and application fees.

A BDSA report released last month noted that Colorado’s cannabis industry grew 26% in 2020, doubling its 2019 rate.

In the U.S., legal cannabis sales surpassed $17.5 billion in 2020, exceeding 2019 growth by 46%. BDSA predicted U.S. sales will reach $41.3 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of 15%.

In 2020, Colorado set a new cannabis sales record – despite the coronavirus pandemic – with $2.19 billion in sales. In 2019, $1.75 billion worth of cannabis products were sold in the state. By the end of this year, Colorado is expected to sell $10 billion worth of cannabis since the reforms were enacted in 2014.

The sector had driven at least $1.63 billion into state coffers through 2020.