Colorado Sets New Monthly Cannabis Sales Record

Six years after its first adult-use cannabis sale, Colorado set a monthly sales record in June totaling $158,102,628, according to state Department of Revenue Marijuana Enforcement Division Revenue outlined by the Denver Post. Last June, cannabis sales in the state reached about $122.4 million.

The previous cannabis sales record in the state of $149,186,615 was set in May, suggesting that cannabis sales in Colorado are booming during the pandemic. Prior to May, the only time sales in the state reached $140 million was in August 2019.

So far this year, medical and recreational cannabis sales in Colorado have totaled $978.35 million, setting the pace for 2020 to eclipse 2019’s record of $1.75 billion in total sales.

According to state data, the Colorado Department of Revenue collected $33.62 million in taxes and fees on cannabis sales and businesses in June. So far, cannabis-derived taxes and fees have reached $203.3 million in 2020; last year the state raised $302.5 million via the industry.

Earlier this year at the onset of the pandemic, Colorado considered both medical and recreational as “essential services” allowing them to remain open but implemented social distancing protocols. However, research from BDSA suggests that the record summer sales are the result of the state’s marketplace.

According to BDSA, pre capita cannabis sales in Colorado reached $290 in 2019 – nearly double the $150 per capita spent in 2014. In the third quarter of last year, 42 percent of adults in the state said they consumed cannabis in the previous six months – an increase of 18 percent from the third quarter of 2017.

In June of last year Colorado surpassed $1 billion in revenue from cannabis-derived taxes and fees.