7 States That Would Earn The Most Money By Legalizing Marijuana

[The General]

Some of us are still processing this whole marijuana legalization deal. For many people, it's kind of hard to believe legalization is actually really happening – it's no longer simply a topic of discussion marijuana smokers debate over, it's right here and right now. Imagine going back in time and telling yourself 10 or 15 years ago that in 2014, recreational pot would be legal in some parts of the country. It's kind of surreal.

Colorado recently published its tax revenue figures for the month of August. Recreational marijuana sales continue to increase in the Centennial state. Based on these tax figures, we can see that from January to August, recreational pot sales rose from $14.02 million to $33.07 million – sales more than doubled over this short time period. Perhaps Colorado citizens needed a little bit of time to adjust to the new law, as well. It may have felt a bit strange at first to walk into a shop without any medical card or prescription and say to the clerk, "May I please buy some marijuana?" and have the clerk respond with, "Absolutely, what kind would you like today?"

As time goes on, legalization may just become the new norm. Although there are certainly downsides, recreational legalization has taken those millions of dollars out of the pockets of black market drug dealers and placed it into the legal economy. Washington state has already made the decision to go legal, and other states may very well follow suit. Here are the states that can financially benefit the most from legalizing pot. These numbers are based on a NerdWallet report, marijuana use data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and other resources.

The NerdWallet report determined each state's tax rate by adding a 15% excise tax to state and local tax figures compiled by the Tax Foundation. The report found each state's market size by determining what portion of the $14 billion total marijuana market each state would theoretically encompass. This is based on how many marijuana users (expressed as a percentage) are in that particular state. Numbers are rounded.

Michigan

• Population ages 25 and older: 6.62 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 6.61%
• Number of marijuana users: 437,649
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 4.15%
• Marijuana market size: $581.27 million
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 21%
• Potential annual revenue from sales and excise taxes: $122.1 million
• Illicit drug use percentage (among persons ages 12 and older): 8.68% to 9.35%
• Current marijuana legislation: medical legal

Ohio

• Population ages 25 and older: 7.8 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 5.39%
• Number of marijuana users: 418,842
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 3.97%
• Marijuana market size: $556.3 million
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 22.11%
• Potential revenue from sales and excise taxes: $123 million
• Illicit drug use percentage: 7.39% to 8.67%
• Current marijuana legislation: illegal

Illinois

• Population ages 25 and older: 8.56 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 4.79%
• Number of marijuana users: 409,971
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 3.89%
• Marijuana market size: $544.5 million
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 23.16%
• Potential revenue from sales and excise taxes: $126.1 million
• Illicit drug use percentage: 6.71% to 7.38%
• Current marijuana legislation: medical legal

Texas

• Population ages 25 and older: 16.4 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 3.30%
• Number of marijuana users: 540,883
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 5.13%
• Marijuana market size: $718.4 million
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 23.15%
• Potential revenue from sales and excise taxes: $166.3 million
• Illicit drug use percentage: 4.08% to 6.70%
• Current marijuana legislation: illegal

Florida

• Population ages 25 and older: 13.5 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 4.73%
• Number of marijuana users: 638,727
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 6.06%
• Marijuana market size: $848.33 million
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 21.62%
• Potential revenue from sales and excise taxes: $183.4 million
• Illicit drug use percentage: 7.39% to 8.67%
• Current marijuana legislation: illegal

New York

• Population ages 25 and older: 13.31 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 5.98%
• Number of marijuana users: 795,924
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 7.55%
• Marijuana market size: approximately $1 billion
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 23.47%
• Potential revenue from sales and excise taxes: $248.1 million
• Illicit drug use percentage: 8.68% to 9.35%
• Current marijuana legislation: medical legal

California

• Population ages 25 and older: 24.78 million
• Percent of population 25 and older who have used marijuana in the past month: 6.74%
• Number of marijuana users: 1.67 million
• State's portion of the marijuana market: 15.84%
• Marijuana market size: $2.2 billion
• Tax rate (state and local sales taxes combined) plus excise tax of 15%: 23.41%
• Potential revenue from sales and excise taxes: $519.3 million
• Illicit drug use percentage: 8.68% to 9.35%
• Current marijuana legislation: medical legal

Didn't see your state? Check out this chart, which indicates states where marijuana is not yet legal for recreational use and projected tax revenues if the substance was made legal in each of the remaining states.

News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Wallstcheatsheet.com
Author: Erika Rawes
Contact: Contact Us
Website: 7 States That Would Earn the Most Money by Legalizing Marijuana

 

[DRM Ranch]

Assuming $188 oz. out the door we are looking at an average cannabis user consuming 7 oz. per year 0.58 oz. per month with these figures. Which is about the equivalent of a joint every other day.

Which when converted to pounds is 4,611,662 lbs. in the USA
California for example would be consuming 730,487 pounds with its 15.84% of the total market.

Further looking at the numbers it seems as if the average spent on MJ comes in at $1,328 per person per year.

Interesting numbers, I'll leave it at that.

DRM Ranch

 

[OnlyOrganic]

I just think it's sad that whenever Cannabis legalization comes up, the very first conversation [every time] is "how much can be made in taxes?". This goes to show how far human society has to go in terms of compassion. Because the very first conversation that should happen is "how can we create a situation so that those who need to benefit from the plant most can do so?".

A society based around money will eventually burn to the ground. A society based on compassion will live on and thrive indefinitely.

 

[DRM Ranch]

I don't agree OnlyOrganic, compassion and money are two entirely differing things.

A compassionate person with wealth is able to exercise his or her compassion to a great extent, while a person with little is far more limited in their ability to express or extend their compassion.

Compassion does not put food on the plate of a hungry man, not today in any case.

DRM Ranch

 

[OnlyOrganic]

Compassion does not put food on the plate of a hungry man, not today in any case.

Actually it is money that keeps people poor and unable to put food on the table. And it is compassion that feeds those who are the perpetual victims of the great currency scheme. Volunteers, food drives, etc. are the only lifeline that millions around the world have. If currency was banished tomorrow and rendered worthless, there is more than enough food growing worldwide to feed the hungry. And those who are most hungry would have no monetary barriers between them and food any longer.

To infer that only the wealthy can help the poor (or that the wealthy are more capable of compassion) is to have a gross misunderstanding of how currency-based societies actually work... along the inevitable and unavoidable consequences that go along with greed and financial inequality.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Money is among other things a device that makes equals of the weak and strong.

I prefer to buy my dinner, than to fight another for it or rely on the compassion of another to provide my meals.

Money is the vehicle that allows us to have artists and musicians, and dancers, and all the trappings of modern life.

Look to nature and view how well compassion works on a grand scale. It is a rare and beautiful thing, but it does not ensure survival in and of itself.

Money is not the problem, it is greed and ill got money that is problematic. Money, like guns, never harmed a soul. Humans behind the money and weapons do harm. You can take away the guns and money, the problems will persist.

DRM Ranch

 

[OnlyOrganic]

Money is the vehicle that allows us to have artists and musicians, and dancers, and all the trappings of modern life.

Forgive me for saying that this is wildly inaccurate and out of touch with reality. Without currency, people would be free to do what they are passionate about without worrying about how to pay for it (that includes, making music, dancing, etc.). Those social constructs that rely on passionate humans to maintain them will thrive. Those that exist simply because it made someone money will fade away.

I would go so far as to say that artists of any kind would thrive an unimaginable amount more due to being free of the shackles of money. Bands would no longer have to waste away years of their lives on minimum wage jobs while they hope to be discovered by some rich producer. They would be free to create what makes them and others happy while living without the innate stresses and burdens of a currency-based society.

 

[DRM Ranch]

How does an artist thrive without money? In today's world of complex trade and systems how do we offer the artist something of value in return for their skill and efforts? I have little of value to offer a dancer or musicians or the like. It is the conversion of my skills value into money that allows me to offer compensation in return for my enjoyment of the performance.

A performer may well be paid in money or something else of value. If I have nothing of value to offer then I have no access to enjoy the performance, or works of art, etc.

Now if we consider free access then come the issue of how does this access work? There are billions of people that could potentially want to seek access to a single work of art. That can't happen.

DRM Ranch

 

[OnlyOrganic]

Apparently you're not an artist.

Artists are driven by a passion to express themselves. Expression has always, and will always exist with or without a system of currency.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Apparently you're not an artist.

That's funny in a very sad way, reps to you.

DRM Ranch

 

[Radogast]

How does an artist thrive without money? In today's world of complex trade and systems how do we offer the artist something of value in return for their skill and efforts? I have little of value to offer a dancer or musicians or the like. It is the conversion of my skills value into money that allows me to offer compensation in return for my enjoyment of the performance.

A performer may well be paid in money or something else of value. If I have nothing of value to offer then I have no access to enjoy the performance, or works of art, etc.

Now if we consider free access then come the issue of how does this access work? There are billions of people that could potentially want to seek access to a single work of art. That can't happen.

DRM Ranch

For a serious answer to the question of how a moneyfree society would function, read Edward Belamy : Looking Backward.
If you take him seriously, there is logic. If you feel the need to dismiss as an impossible to achieve Utopia, read the sequel.

 

[Colesdad]

The truth is, there is money in pot. Either for the bad guys, or for the good guys. Bad guys - black market dealers, good guys - everyone else.

Roads to not build themselves. Children do not make textbooks. Vegetables do not can themselves.

Assume there is no "dollars", want would you "trade". If you needed your car fixed, would someone give you the part needed and would someone install it for free. Your vehicle needsa battery. I sure hope Auto Zone is willing to give me a free battery. Maybe I can offer to cut the managers grass for a full year in exchange for a battery. He calls the manufacturer of the battery, "I will cut your grass for a year because this guy needs a battery and he is willing to cut mine". So the maker call the plastic supplier of the materials needed to make the battery and offers to cut that person's grass in exchange for the plastics needed. And this goes on and on. Eventually I geta phone call from someone offering to cut mine. So now, my car is fixed and my yard is cut for me, but I need to cut someone else's because iI have promised to. Now, everything is perfect.

But now I need gasoline for my mower. So I call the guy at the gas station...............

 

[OnlyOrganic]

Take away money, and guess what... there's no money in Cannabis. Now there are no "bad guys", only [com]passionate growers.

People will continue to make roads, authors will continue to make books, and farmers will continue to grow/preserve foods.

The idea that humans would stop producing/creating or providing necessary services is absurd. Or that money is the only reason anyone does anything. Most people can't follow their passions because they can't afford to in a currency-based society.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Trading is exactly the same as money, just messy and difficult to track and account for.

The concept of all is free and everyone contributes is not possible. Every society that used that method has failed.

Zero cost is not self limiting, if for example gas were free I would drive a giant 500ci twin turbo caddy everywhere, my use not being limited would be mirrored by many billions more and the finite quantity of gas would be depleted in short order. If I'm limited in how much gas I can use in any way, a commodity has just been formed that can be exploited for personal gain. Joe my next door neighbor rides a moped and never uses his allowance of gas, so he has what I need. We are back to a system of trade. He could just give it to me, but if he happens to want my home canned tomatoes, I am about to buy some fuel using canned tomatoes as money.

Do I really need the car, no! But that can be said about quite a bit of things. You need a couple thousand calories comprised of what makes up a balanced diet and some clean water.

Money came about at about the same time we began to form societies that allowed more than sustenance living.

Every society that did not develop money or trade systems that work by assessing value of a trade have failed.

DRM Ranch

 

[painkills2]

"Every society that did not develop money or trade systems that work by assessing value of a trade have failed."

Does that mean we shouldn't try? How many times does an idea fail before it finally succeeds? How many times did the Wright brothers fail before they were able to fly? How many failures in medical science before hard-fought successes are won?

Perhaps I am not yet able to visualize a society without money. (Are Bitcoins really money?) But you're right, DRM, money is just an object -- like a gun or a drug. It is greed -- and violence and addiction (and poverty and inequality) -- that are the problems. Does money cause greed? Wouldn't there still be greed without money?

It's not like you can change human behavior. Well, it happens -- that's evolution -- but I find it hard to believe that humans could evolve past their own greed. In fact, sometimes, greed may very well equal survival. Eh, but what kind of survival? Anyway, I'd like to think that there are more compassionate people than there are greedy... (In other news, Big Pharma is now developing a pill for greed.)

"If I have nothing of value to offer then I have no access to enjoy the performance, or works of art, etc."

When I think of "works of art," I think of nature. (Well, it's fall in New Mexico, can you blame me?) As long as we still have public parks and open spaces (along with architecture), there will always be free art. (Hey, Obama, stop drilling in our national parks!)

 

[DRM Ranch]

Greed has been a part of our make up since the dawn of time, and greed has many forms not just in the form of a collection of money or goods, people love to hog attention as well.

One can not assume that basic human traits will not remain with us without some form of concerted effort to breed out those traits of genetically modify ourselves in such a way as to wipe out entire swaths of what makes us ... Us!

Both those concepts are at their very core things we as a race tend to frown upon. Can you see the reaction of people if they were told no you can not have children, or you must have children with this person rather than with the one you love?

As for evolution, our very efforts to reduce loss of life are factors that stall evolution. Evolution requires pressure, and humans strive to eliminate pressure on our species.

The very real fact here is we will not evolve much beyond where we are today, we simply do not have the time to do so. We may very well see great advancements in technology that allow us to live better, but as a race, our nature, we will go extinct trying to out do one another.

As for taxes, and how they relate to cannabis; I think that is unavoidable in today's day and age. Perhaps when wealth is such that our economy is not so heavily in debt and our expenditure is such that we see an actual surplus in decades rather than lifetimes.

Kill loans, kill the whole idea that people can eat their cake before dinner and we might just get there.

DRM Ranch

 

[Bangabong]

In its most basic form, when you barter objects, labor or skill for more of the same, it is in practice using a form of currency, all be it, a cool form of currency. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, humans are competitive by nature, and that inevitably becomes a problem. While I have always liked the idea of communal living (what's mine is yours, and what is yours is mine), my skeptical nature holds little hope of mankind ever being able to pull it off on a grand scale, because eventually, someone will have the inextricable belief that they need to have more power, or bigger, better and more stuff. Ultimately, that has always been the source of the decay and death of social experiments, such as, communes. Having said that, I always hope for the best when I hear of some idealistic folks trying to make it happen, because I would love to be wrong on this one.

The original post was very informative, not sure I agree with the numbers, but I do appreciate the thought and work that went into it. Being a Texan, I will be stunned if this state makes any significant headway in the near future to legalizing cannabis in any form, medical or recreational. Currently, the state has a huge amount of rainy day funds, so money is not as much of a carrot as it may be in other states.

 

[OnlyOrganic]

I think it's important to realize when a conversation has lost its footing. I'll take responsibility for my part in taking this thread off course, and maybe it's time to retire from repeating rhetoric. It's obvious at this point where we all stand on the subject of economics and Cannabis, and perhaps this can continue at another point in time in a future 'utopian' themed thread. I appreciate everyone's passionate thoughts, and I think it's time to get back to what brought us here in the first place... Cannabis, love, and healing. Cheers.