Michigan Broke Marijuana Sales Record In April, State Data Shows

Michigan broke a marijuana sales record in April, with nearly $200 million in cannabis purchases, state data shows.

The state saw about $168 million in recreational marijuana sales and $27 million for medical cannabis, for a total of nearly $195 million.

Andrew Brisbo, executive director of the state Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA), broke down the numbers, which showed a notable dip in medical marijuana sales compared to a year ago (down 44 percent) and a significant increase in adult-use purchases (up 60 percent) in that timeframe.

April's record marijuana sales in Michigan resulted in $19.5 million in excise tax revenue invested in roads, schools, and local governments across the state. In addition, nearly $13 million also collected into the general sales tax bucket. That's one month. https://t.co/ruPIXWZor8

— David Harns (@DavidHarns) May 10, 2022

While the state didn’t speculate about the reasons for this April’s record sales figures, it is the case that April 20 is the unofficial cannabis holiday.

Last month’s haul generated $19.5 million in excise tax revenue that the state can use to fund roads, schools and local governments. That’s in addition to $13 million in general sales taxes generated by cannabis sales.

Brisbo also pointed out that the new sales record was set last month “despite the fact that the average retail flower price (ounce) dropped from $203.91 in April 2021 to $123.54 in April 2022 for medical sales and from $245.99 to $133.19 for adult-use sales.”

On the medical side of the industry, there are currently 1285 active licenses (459 provisioning centers) and 161 municipalities have opted in.

On the adult use side, there are now 1412 active licenses (500 retailers) and 119 municipalities have opted in.

3/3

— Andrew Brisbo (@AndrewBrisbo) May 10, 2022

Meanwhile, Michigan officials announced in March that it would be distributing nearly $150 million in marijuana tax revenue, divided between localities, public schools and a transportation fund.

The state Treasury Department said that the funding—made possible from tax revenue generated from the state’s adult-use cannabis program—includes $42.2 million for 62 cities, 15 villages, 33 townships and 53 counties.

That’s more than four times the level of funding that the state paid out to municipalities with cannabis tax dollars last year.

All told in 2021, Michigan saw $1,311,951,737 in marijuana sales for adult-use and $481,225,540 for medical cannabis. In December alone, there were more than $135 million in recreational cannabis purchases and about $33 million in medical marijuana sales.

Regulators also announced earlier this year that the they approved the state’s first-ever social consumption site for adult-use marijuana in Hazel Park. It stands to reason that, as that sector of the marijuana industry grows, even more tax revenue may follow.

Michigan isn’t the only state that’s seeing significant marijuana sales and working to put the resulting tax dollars to good use.

In Colorado, the state released sales data for March showing that marijuana purchases rebounded in March after a prolonged slump this year. However, sales are still down from 2021 levels.

Illinois adult-use marijuana sales reached nearly $132 million in April, the second highest monthly total since the market launched in 2020 and another sign that the state’s industry is stabilizing following a slump at the beginning of this year.

Massachusetts is collecting more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol, state data released in January shows. As of December 2021, the state took in $51.3 million from alcohol taxes and $74.2 million from cannabis at the halfway point of the fiscal year.

Arizona generated more tax revenue to the state general fund from legal marijuana sales than from tobacco and alcohol combined in March, the state reported.

Altogether, states that have legalized marijuana for adult use collectively generated more than $3.7 billion in tax revenue from recreational cannabis sales in 2021, according to a report from MPP.

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