There are currently 39 states in the United States that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, and about 18 of those have legalized recreational marijuana usage for all adults over the age of 21. Perhaps 20 years ago, the idea of a state-run and funded medical marijuana program would have been completely unimaginable. However, there are so many benefits to decriminalizing and legalizing medical marijuana, that it honestly all just makes sense. In fact, one of the more prominent reasons for states legalizing medical marijuana is the revenue that can come from it.

It is no secret that the marijuana industry is booming in the United States and continues to do so each year. In fact, 2020 saw nearly $7.9 billion in revenue from medical marijuana alone, and I have no doubts that this trend will continue to go to the moon. In fact, some of the states that have long since legalized medical marijuana and created their own programs are starting to reap some of the financial benefits.

Obviously, it is a lot of work to actually get a medical marijuana program up and running. States need all the licenses, registration, administration, people, employees, and other things that they can do to get their program up and running. All of this is not cheap either. However, we are definitely seeing the financial benefits in some of the states that have gotten around to legalizing cannabis before others and have done the time it takes to get there.

Could this be a prominent factor of legalizing cannabis on a federal level? Maybe so! With all that has happened in the last couple years, we all know that our governments are strapped for cash for the time being. Medical marijuana can be a huge market if governments are willing to change policies and legislation that goes along with it.

So what does tax revenue from the marijuana industry in the United States actually look like? How much is actually going to be generated from marijuana alone? Well, for that information, we will need to take a look at some of the pioneering states in the medical marijuana industry. States like California, Washington, and Colorado are among some of the top earners from marijuana tax revenue, partially due to how long these programs have been around in those states.

Washington state, for example, has made the highest amount of money from cannabis taxes than any other state. Recently the state racked up over $610 million dollars in tax revenue from cannabis excise taxes. What are they doing with that money, you may be asking? Well, according to the research that we looked at, $260 million of that money was put into the Washington State Medicaid program. This was especially helpful for the citizens of Washington state during the pandemic, as hospitals and healthcare facilities were already overworked and at max capacity.

It is great that there can be so many good things done with the money that comes from the cannabis industry. The state also used $500,000 to fund and conduct clinical research about the short-term and long term effects of cannabis use. I hope that what you learned about in this article today was helpful, especially if you are interested in getting involved in the world of cannabis.

As always, come back next week to read another riveting article about medical marijuana and cannabis. We are here to provide you with all the facts you need to smoke weed safely. Hope this was helpful!