There’s Now More Marijuana Shops in Colorado than Starbucks or McDonalds
There are now more marijuana stores in Colorado than Starbucks or Mcdonalds.
There are nearly 500 stores in Colorado that are licensed to legally distribute cannabis and cannabis products to anyone 21 and older, according to figures released by the state. This is considerably more than the number of Starbucks in the state (392), and well over twice the number of McDonalds (208). Clearly, times are changing.
The large number of marijuana stores have results in over $1 billion in legal marijuana being sold in the first 8 months of the year. These sales have resuled in over $162 million in taxes for the state.
Since legal marijuana sales began in Colorado in 2014, there’s been roughly $4 billion in marijuana sold: $699 million in 2014, $996 million in 2015, $1.3 billion in 2016, and $1.02 billion so far this year.
Sessions
Re the $162M in tax collection through Aug 2017. Recall the 2012 study of tax revenues projected from legalization if 64 passed. It was criticized as being wildly optimistic. The study projected $100M annually by 2017.