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Colorado Marijuana Tax Revenue Nearly Doubles in One Year

1 minute read

It’s been a year and a half since the legalization of marijuana went into effect in Colorado. Business for purveyors of marijuana was good from the beginning, but has soared in the past year, according to data collected by the Colorado Department of Revenue.

The state collected $9.7 million in taxes related to marijuana sales in June 2015, up nearly $5 million from the same month last year. By May, the state had collected more than $88 million in marijuana taxes in 2015.

Revenue from marijuana sales has been used to fund improvements to the state’s public schools. “The people who were smoking marijuana before legalization still are. Now, they’re paying taxes,” Gov. John Hickenlooper told USA Today in February.

Colorado is one of four states that have legalized recreational marijuana despite a federal ban prohibiting it. Many more states have legalized medical marijuana.

Go Inside the Harvest of Colorado's Most Controversial Marijuana Strain

Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. The Stanley Brothers have developed a popular strain of cannabis that has been found to be helpful in reducing seizures in some children. Charlotte's Web is high in a compound called cannabidiol (CBD) and low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the compound that causes a high. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
From left: Zachary Sobol, Michael Atchley, and Jared Stanley walk to the farm to prepare for harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Rows of Charlotte's Web await harvest at the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Jared Stanley helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Colin Sparks searches for seeds during the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's Charlotte's Web farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Discarded leaves of Charlotte's Web at a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Tim Knight helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Rows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested on a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Zachary Sobol catches a ride on a trailer to the Stanley brother's farm during harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Rows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
One of the Stanley brother's greenhouses growing cannabis near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Zachary Sobol hangs rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after harvest in Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Penn Mattison, left, and Zachary Sobol, right, hang rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
The Stanley brothers' new company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
A petri dish full of cannabis explants await transfer and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' lab in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel awaits the cooling of agar to help induce rooting of transplanted cannabis plants at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
The lab notebook of molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
A flask of agar cools before explants of hemp are transplanted to help induce rooting and new growth at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California
Tissue cutter technician Meg Regan holds a vial of explants before sanitizing and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

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Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com