FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 29, 2025

Contact: Violet Cavendish
vcavendish@mpp.org

Harrisburg, P.A. — In its first four years of legal sales, Pennsylvania can anticipate $1-1.4 billion in adult-use cannabis tax revenue, according to a report released by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

Based on revenue projections from Arizona, Maryland, and Michigan, and assuming 16% in total taxes at retail, MPP anticipates that Pennsylvania would generate between $105 and $236 million in tax revenue in its first year of legal cannabis sales, and between $320 and $610 million by year four. 

“As Pennsylvania navigates a period of fiscal uncertainty, the Commonwealth is losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue that is instead flowing into the coffers of its neighboring states. Lawmakers should seize the opportunity to bolster the budget and grow the economy, while expanding freedom and implementing public health regulations,” said Karen O’Keefe, Director of State Policies at the Marijuana Policy Project. 

On May 7, 2025, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed HB 1200, which would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older with sales through state-run stores. On May 13, the Senate Law and Justice Committee voted down HB 1200, with Chairman Dan Laughlin (R) expressing opposition to the state-stores model. Sens. Laughlin and Sharif Street have circulated a cosponsorship memo for a bipartisan bill with privately-operated stores, which avoids the uncertainty, expense, and delay of state-run stores.

Collectively, states have generated a combined total of more than $24.7 billion in tax revenue from legal adult-use cannabis sales since the first adult-use cannabis markets launched in Colorado and Washington in 2014, including over $4.4 billion in 2024, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year. 

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis possession for adults 21 and older. All except Virginia and D.C. have also legalized, regulated, and taxed cannabis sales. In two legalization states — Delaware and Minnesota — sales have not begun yet.

Notably, cannabis taxes have provided funding for a variety of programs and services, such as Medicaid, education, school construction, housing, roads, early literacy, bullying prevention, behavioral health, alcohol and drug treatment, veterans’ services, conservation, job training, conviction expungement expenses, and reinvestment in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis, among many others. 

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Founded in 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the nation’s leading cannabis policy reform organization. MPP has played a central role in passing dozens of cannabis policy reforms in states across the country, including 14 successful cannabis legalization campaigns, and also works to advance federal reforms.

Visit www.mpp.org for more information.