Report Reveals Cannabis Taxes Outraised Alcohol by 20 Percent in States with Legal Sales Last Year
CANNANNEW REPORT

Here’s what ITEP says April 19, 2022 By Carl Davis and Mike Hegeman The cannabis industry has come a long way since the first legal sale of adult-use cannabis eight years ago in Colorado. In 2021, the 11 states that allowed legal sales within their borders raised nearly $3 billion in cannabis excise tax revenue, an increase of 33 percent compared to a year earlier. While the tax remains a small part of state budgets, it’s beginning to eclipse other “sin taxes” that states have long had on the books. Most of the states that allowed cannabis sales last year raised more revenue from cannabis excise taxes than from alcohol excise taxes and profits (in the case of state-run liquor stores). In total, cannabis revenues outperformed alcohol by 20 percent by this measure. Colorado stands out among this group with cannabis taxes raising seven times more than its excise taxes on alcohol. Not coincidentally, Colorado also has among the lowest alcohol tax rates in the nation. Alcohol excise taxes in Colorado are 2.7 cents per shot of liquor, 1.3 cents per glass of wine, or 1 cent per pint of beer and raised a combined total of $53 million last year. Colorado’s cannabis taxes are levied at higher rates per serving (a 5-milligram edible might incur around 16 cents of state tax, for example) and raised $396 million. While Colorado represents a relatively extreme case, low alcohol tax rates are the norm across much of the country as their real value has been eroded substantially by years of inflation and policy inaction. But cannabis isn’t always the most lucrative “sin tax.” Last year, four of the 11 states that allowed for legal cannabis sales raised more revenue from alcohol. This includes Alaska, which has a higher alcohol tax rate than most states (15…

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Source : Report Reveals Cannabis Taxes Outraised Alcohol by 20 Percent in States with Legal Sales Last Year

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