Weed Taxes Bring In 3x More Than Alcohol + Tobacco in Arizona
It’s been just over 15 months since Arizona legalized recreational marijuana sales and a decade since the medical use of the substance was allowed, and it already fills the state coffers with more revenue than the two other most popular substances.
According to a report by the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee, in March, the state raked in three times as much money from cannabis sales that from tobacco and alcohol combined. While cannabis generated $18.2 million worth of taxes, tobacco brought in only $3.7 mln and liquor $1.7 mln.
The year-to-date alcohol taxes in 2022 were down 26.4% compared with the same period of the previous year, while for tobacco, there was an increase of 12.3%.
An Important Argument to Repeal Prohibition
The push for cannabis reform has long centered on two arguments – the social injustice of the war on drugs and the harm reduction. However, since the first states to establish a regulated recreational market – Colorado and Washington – began to profit from legal sales, decision-makers in other jurisdictions saw it as a huge incentive to join the experiment. Since 2012, 18 states plus Washington D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana, and most of them allow for-profit production and sale of the substance by licensed businesses.
Recreational vs Medical
Medical marijuana was legalized in the Grand Canyon State in 2010, and the program is well-established, while adult use was only allowed in 2020 and the first sales took place in January last year. Probably, this was the reason why medical taxes started 2022 as a winner in the race but by March recreational sales taxes overtook medical ones. This trend is likely to continue going forward.
Earlier, we reported that the pandemic and sweeping lockdown measures impacted the way people partied: they spent more time at home smoking weed than went out drinking alcohol. At least one study observed this effect by polling students on campuses.
