Nevada Sees Nearly $1B In Annual Cannabis Sales

Nevada cannabis sales reached nearly $1 billion during the fiscal year 2022 — July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022 — the Nevada Independent reports. The $965 million in taxable sales is a 4% year-over-year decrease, however.

Reasons for the drop in sales may include the expiration of COVID-19 restrictions and other economic factors like inflation, the report says. 

“Over the first part of the year, Nevada’s cannabis industry saw lower retail sales, a trend consistent with other mature cannabis marketplaces nationwide,” Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board spokesperson Tiana Bohner said in an email to the Independent. “While sales increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, cannabis businesses are not immune to the effects of inflation and lack of disposable income as consumers adjust their spending habits and priorities.”

Much of the tax revenue, $147 million in total, will go to K-12 education. The state imposes a 10% excise tax, which totaled $89 million, and a 15% wholesale excise tax, which totaled $63 million, the report says. Two other funds benefit from cannabis sales — $5 million to local governments and the remainder will go to funding state regulatory duties like the compliance board.

Despite the high sales figures, some cannabis businesses and activists have expressed concerns about large fees and the state’s wholesale taxation formulas, the Independent says.