10 months of Nevada pot sales exceed year-end projection
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zechariah Jacobs shops for marijuana at the Exhale Nevada dispensary in Las Vegas on April 20. Nevada’s marijuana regulators say they are trying to keep up with demands at recreational dispensaries, where sales continue to outpace projections. The Nevada Appeal reports the Interim Finance Committee approved an additional $1.5 million for the Department of Taxation to hire more security guards and staff to process background checks for workers at marijuana facilities.
CARSON CITY, Nev. >> Tax collections on recreational marijuana sales in Nevada have exceeded projections for the entire fiscal year in just the first 10 months since they became legal last July.
Nevada Department of Taxation Director Bill Anderson says the $6.5 million in pot tax revenues in April slipped a bit from the monthly high of $7 million in March.
But the combined revenues from medical and recreational marijuana are now at 110 percent of what was projected for all of fiscal 2018 — a total of $55.5 million so far. Overall sales have reached $433.5 million.
Anderson says taxable revenue from marijuana-related sales is growing about 17 percent faster than total sales tax collections.
Sales of taxable products and services statewide are up $1.96 billion over the 10 months, while marijuana-related sales have increased $338 million.
