Arizona Raises $106M in Cannabis Taxes in First Year

Since adult-use cannabis sales launched in Arizona one year ago, the state has raised more than $106 million, KGUN reports. Under the state’s legalization law, the funds are earmarked for public safety, which Jeffrey Yates head of Tucson’s Business Services Department, explained was the city’s “largest expenditure.”

“So a large portion of every dollar the city gets goes to that public safety effort, which includes community safety programs and all those different things not just law enforcement, but all the components.” — Yates to KGUN

Pima County, the state’s second-largest behind Maricopa, is expecting about $1.8 million in taxes, of which $314,000 will go to the Sheriff’s department budget and about $900,000 for road repair. The city of Tucson is expecting about $9.7 million, which represents less than 1% of the city budget.

In all, Arizona has sold more than $405 million worth of adult-use cannabis from January through October, according to state data, and more than $572 million in medical cannabis. Data for October published by the state is incomplete, though.

The state reached its adult-use sales record in July when it sold more than $54.3 million worth of cannabis products; that same month medical cannabis sales reached more than $71 million.

In July, officials admitted that some of the tax data might be off as some retailers were missing tax payments, while others were paying off more than a month of taxes at once, according to an Arizona Republic report.