$76 million…
That’s what the state of Colorado generated in tax revenue in 2014 from sales of legal cannabis.
And this year?
The Centennial State is now on pace to pull in more than $125 million. It doesn’t even make that much from alcohol sales.
Of course, we’re not comparing apples to apples here. After all, the cannabis industry carries a much larger tax burden compared to alcohol, including:
- A 2.9% retail and medical marijuana sales tax
- A 10% retail marijuana special tax
- A 15% marijuana excise tax
The result of all these taxes?
The state made so much money that by law, it’s expected to return some of that money to taxpayers.
The state constitution actually places a limit on how much the state can legally collect. The limit was crossed, and now residents are expecting a check in the mail.
But they won’t get it.
Soak it in
I’m pretty sure a number of politicians in Colorado never expected cannabis sales to generate so much in tax revenue (although you probably have to be a special kind of idiot to think that selling legal marijuana won’t generate insane amounts of money).
In any event, now that the money is in government coffers, few want to give it back to the taxpayers. Imagine that!
Of course, I’m not here today to dump all over opportunistic bureaucrats. That’s too easy.
Instead, I want you to step back for a moment and soak this in.
By the end of the year, the state of Colorado is expected to generate more than $125 million in tax revenue attributed to the sale of legal cannabis. That’s not chump change, and quite frankly, it’s just the beginning.
States all over this nation are hard up for cash. This isn’t some big secret. So it’s no surprise to find more and more states dipping their toes into the waters of legalized cannabis.
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Motivated by Money
Today, 23 states and the District of Columbia have laws legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana in some form, and another 11 states are expected to legalize within the next two to three years.
Governors and state senators all over this nation are seeing dollar signs, and those dollar signs are trumping any loyalty to philosophical and political prejudices.
The bottom line is that nothing motivates action on the part of politicians more than money. And that’s exactly what’s happening with legalized cannabis.
Between the huge tax revenues and the millions of dollars in savings that have resulted from having the police spend less time and money pursuing non-violent drug offenders, it’s becoming more and more difficult for those opposed to legalization to make any headway.
Although this may not be what some folks want to hear, it’s the truth nonetheless. And as an investor, that’s all I really care about.
Mark my words…
The legalized cannabis industry is going to make a lot of people very, very rich.
Will you be one of them?
If you follow my lead on this, you will.
I’ll have more for you soon.
To a new way of life and a new generation of wealth…
Jeff Siegel
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Jeff is the founder and managing editor of Green Chip Stocks. For more on Jeff, go to his editor’s page.
