Actions

Pot sales hit $270M in 1st quarter of 2016

Posted at 7:18 AM, May 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-12 09:18:22-04

New state figures show that Colorado marijuana shops sold more than $270 million in the first three months of the year.

The Denver Post reports that the data from the Colorado Department of Revenue says that more than $170 million of that total was for recreational marijuana sales and the remaining $100 million was for medical pot.

Marijuana businesses sold nearly $90 million of pot in March, a slight drop from February, which was the state's fifth most profitable month for sales since they began in January 2014.

The taxes collected from retail pot sales in March totaled $3.5 million, which will go toward school construction projects. Analysts expect that number to reach $40 million for all of 2016.

Last year, Colorado marijuana businesses sold more than $996 million.