"In many instances the new revenue is being distributed to much-needed public services and programs, including reinvesting in communities that were devastated by the war on drugs," said Karen O'Keefe, MPP's director of state policies.
"By and large, elected officials are starting to realize that this is where the public sentiment is," said Karen O'Keefe, MPP's director of state policies.
Cannabis is one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. even though the drug is banned under federal law. More Americans believe pot should be legal—68% according to the latest Gallup poll—and 18% of Americans now admit to using it, up from 10% in 2005.
"It is the slowest of any state," said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, D.C. "State legislators legalized medical cannabis in 2017, but the first dispensaries didn’t open until November 2021 because of banking issues."
Legal adult-use marijuana in Massachusetts has become a cash crop with sales topping the $2.28 billion mark in 2021. The Marijuana Policy Project released a new report showing tax revenue generated from states where marijuana is legal has surpassed $10.4 billion in tax revenue from sales through December 2021.
Michigan has collected about $271 million in legal, adult-use marijuana tax revenue since 2019, according to a new report from the Marijuana Policy Project that analyzed tax revenue in states with adult-use cannabis since 2014.
"States that have legalized cannabis for adults are reaping significant economic benefits. The legal adult-use cannabis industry has now generated over $10 billion in new tax revenue, and in many instances that revenue is being distributed to much needed public services and programs, including reinvesting in communities that were devastated by the war on drugs," said Karen O’Keefe, MPP's director of state policies.
"Progress has moved forward in the past year quicker than I think we ever saw before. By and large, most of the new regulatory measures have been overwhelmingly positive," said Karen O’Keefe, MPP's director of state policies.