Colorado marijuana sales top $106 million in November
Colorado marijuana shops tallied just over $106 million in sales this past November, putting the industry’s 2016 sales totals just shy of $1.2 billion — with returns from the typically bountiful month of December still to come.
Sales of marijuana and related products translated to $17.7 million in monthly taxes and fees to go toward school construction, drug prevention and other health programs, bringing the year-to-date revenue total for the 2016 calendar to $180.4 million, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue, which released the latest marijuana tax revenue report on Wednesday afternoon.
Through November, sales were up more than 33 percent from the first 11 months of 2015, when Colorado pot shops had reeled in roughly $895 million. November 2016 sales were up about 32 percent from the $80.5 million notched in November 2015 and down nearly 10 percent from the $117.9 million in October 2016.
Colorado Springs resident Jim Coonradt smells a marijuana sample container at Emerald Fields, Manitou Springs’ second and final recreational marijuana shop, which opened on Manitou Avenue Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette
Opening day in 2014 at Maggie’s Farm. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)
Opening day in 2014 at Maggie’s Farm. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)
Colorado Springs resident Jim Coonradt smells a marijuana sample container at Emerald Fields, Manitou Springs’ second and final recreational marijuana shop, which opened on Manitou Avenue Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette