Newly published sales state data for Arizona’s cannabis market confirms that medical and adult-use revenue exceeded $20 million for the month of August. 

Taxes accrued through Arizona’s medical cannabis market were higher during the month of July, when they totaled $6,388,816. 

Comparatively, data from the Arizona Department of Revenue revealed that the recreational cannabis market accumulated $4,542,166 during the same month.

Moreover, the state also collected an additional $9,515,016 from the compulsory cannabis excise tax.

It should be noted that these are preliminary revenue results and therefore are subject to change; mainly due to the fact that certain businesses require more time to submit their data.

The Department also disclosed the overall cannabis tax revenue from January through August, which amounted to $115,701,426.

July’s cannabis tax revenue was slightly more than August’s

Interestingly, August’s cannabis tax revenue dipped just below the revenue that was recorded in July. In fact, July gained around $400,000 more than August. 

Notwithstanding the fact that medical cannabis taxes continue to overshadow taxes from the adult-use market, experts say that the gap separating the two is slowly becoming smaller.

Similar trends are noticeable in other legal cannabis states. For example, things are going well in Illinois, which celebrated $120 million in adult-use sales this past August.

Maine recreational marijuana sales also saw a breakthrough moment in August, when revenue eclipsed $10 million for the first time since adult-use sales kicked off in October 2020. 

A recent report from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) confirmed that sales have reached the $2 billion mark since the state’s recreational market was enacted in late 2018. 

Additionally, California managed to generate around $817 million in adult-use cannabis tax revenue during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, based on recent state official estimates. In comparison with the prior fiscal year, that’s a 55 percent increase in cannabis revenue for state coffers.

Coronavirus pandemic has stimulated cannabis sales revenue growth across U.S. markets 

Cannabis purchases “have increased more during the COVID-19 pandemic than in the previous two years.” 

This is according to a newly-conducted scientific analysis of cannabis sales data from a handful of legal states, including Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington State. The findings were published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

July was a monumental month for cannabis sales revenue, with no less than three states recording recreational cannabis sales records during the month. Missouri’s medical cannabis program also celebrated a sales revenue milestone in July.

Another state that broke a cannabis sales record in July was Michigan. According to the state’s regulatory body, Michigan logged more than $171 million in cannabis transactions. Of this amount, adult-use sales totaled $128 million and medical cannabis purchases totaled $43 million.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, numerous states have granted cannabis retailers the opportunity to remain open. The label “essential business” was applied to cannabis businesses and some jurisdictions even went as far as to release emergency rules for curbside pickup and delivery.