Cannabis sales in Arizona topped $1.4 billion last year with adult-use sales comprising about 70% of the total, AZ Mirror reports. The total was nearly identical to Arizona’s 2021 sales; however, in 2021 medical cannabis sales made up about 55% of the state’s total cannabis sales.
Arizona adult-use cannabis sales reached their peak in December with about $86.6 million, an increase of nearly $1 million from the $85.8 million the previous month. Meanwhile, medical cannabis sales from November to December dropped from $31.9 million to $31.1 million.
Since the launch of adult-use sales in Arizona in January 2021, cannabis sales from both adult-use and recreational markets have reached $2.9 billion, the report says. The lowest full month total of adult-use cannabis sales in the state was about $40 million in February 2021, the first full month of adult-use sales.
Medical cannabis sales have declined nearly every month since April 2021, when sales reached $73.2 million, the report says. In July 2021 sales hit $71.6 million after a $5 million decrease the previous month and medical cannabis sales have never come close to that total again and the last time medical cannabis patients spent more than $50 million in a month was April 2022, the report says.
The state collects 16% excise tax on adult-use sales along with the state’s standard sales tax. Medical cannabis patients pay roughly 6% in state sales tax and municipalities can charge an additional 2% or so for all cannabis sales that occur within their jurisdictions.
A third of adult-use taxes collected are earmarked for community college and provisional community college districts; 31% to public safety, 25% to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, and 10% to the justice reinvestment fund.
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