The Forbes report is out, and numbers like this haven't been seen since Cable Television and Internet were released into the consumer market.
North American marijuana sales topped $6.7 billion in 2016, a 30% increase in sales from 2015. Projections estimate sales will reach $20.2 billion by 2021. Forbes cannabis reporter Debra Borchardt says, “To put this in perspective, this industry growth is larger and faster than even the dot-com era. During that time, GDP grew at a blistering pace of 22%. Thirty percent is an astounding number especially when you consider that the industry is in early stages.”
In Colorado, sales topped $1 billion in the first ten months of 2016, beating 2015’s yearly total of $996,184,788. The exact number of sales for 2016 will be available in February, but year end totals are estimated to reach $1.3 billion.
Of the estimated $151 million in tax revenue made from cannabis in 2016, $40 million will be targeted to school construction.