Cannabis sales in Arizona fell for the second straight quarter, marking the largest year-over-year decrease since voters approved the reforms in 2020, AZ Mirror reports. Combined adult-use and medical-use cannabis sales in the state totaled about $298 million during the second quarter of the year but were down 13.7% over the same three-month period in 2024.
The totals are $30 million less than sales totals during the first quarter of the year – which were down 9.1% from the same period last year.
In June, adult-use cannabis sales topped $71.3 million, which marks a $14 million decrease from totals in June 2024, a downswing that is driving the market’s lull.
So far this year, combined cannabis sales in Arizona are $43 million less than in 2024, or 7.6%, which is in line with the state’s year-over-year decline. In 2022, the first full year of adult-use sales in the state, Arizona retailers sold about $1.426 billion worth of cannabis products. The following year, the total fell to about $1.376 billion, and in 2024, the total fell to about $1.250 billion, according to state data.
Arizona collects a 16% excise tax on adult-use cannabis sales in addition to the standard 5.6% sales tax. Medical cannabis products only carry the sales tax. Local jurisdictions charge an additional 2% or so for all cannabis sales.
One-third of revenue raised by the excise tax is sent to community college and provisional community college districts; 31% to public safety; 25% to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund; and 10% to the justice reinvestment fund, which funds public health services, counseling, job training, and other social services for communities that have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization policies.
