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Summary Colorado is continuing to sell more and more recreational weed, something we could have predicted since weed never gets old and theoretically should become a daily habit for at least 1,000 more Americans. SF Gate reports that sales tax reports issued by Colorado last Thursday declared that recreational sales increased by nearly a third in […]

Colorado is continuing to sell more and more recreational weed, something we could have predicted since weed never gets old and theoretically should become a daily habit for at least 1,000 more Americans.

SF Gate reports that sales tax reports issued by Colorado last Thursday declared that recreational pot sales increased by nearly a third in March.

Colorado sold roughly $19 million worth of recreational weed that month, compared to $14 million last February.

Recreational weed has only been legal for three months in Colorado, but it has already made $7.3 million in tax revenue. Add the tax revenue it makes from medical marijuana and the total weed earnings for Colorado comes out to about $12.6 million.

While it may come as a surprise that Colorado sells more medical weed than it does recreational, it’s safe to say that medical recipients need their greens a lot more often, and in greater quantities, than recreational users do.

That’s why Colorado sold $34.5 million in medical weed in March compared to $19.6 million in recreational.

But recreational weed is taxed the most, therefore it brings in more revenue for the state.

Colorado is also making more and more off the excise tax for pot plants. January and February taxes for pot plants were pretty low because the business had just debuted, but now that all this money is coming in, excise tax revenue has skyrocketed by nearly 80 percent from February to March, generating about $610,000.

Another huge source of pot tax revenue is the cost of licenses for growers and retailers.

According to SF Gate, licenses and fees for running a pot shop and/or cultivation facility brought in $903,000 in March.

Much of this tax revenue will be spent on the most dire risk of legal pot, which is increased exposure to children. Colorado lawmakers voted to spend $33 million from pot tax revenue on marijuana prevention programs and education, something we never really had to deal with considering many of us didn’t know what pot did until after middle school.

Colorado’s incredible numbers are a teaser to the federal government, serving as a reminder of how quickly we could be out of debt if we’d just let the pharmaceutical giants who make a killing off addicting and often unsatisfactory medications take a substantial pay cut.

There’s no evidence of an increase in kids getting caught with weed or weed-related crimes in Colorado, which is reassuring for continued legalization efforts.

And another huge upside to legalizing weed: more people getting high. This country wouldn’t be so bitter and divided if more people learned to toke instead of grabbing the nearest bottle of liquor.

H/T: Sean Levinson, Elite Daily