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From Denver to Telluride, Colorado Makes History

By Jeralyn, Section Colorado News
Posted on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 08:07:00 AM EST
Tags: marijuana reform (all tags)
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Colorado made history yesterday, becoming the first government to allow marijuana to be purchased by adults for recreational use.

From Denver to Telluride, the lines were long. Here's a look at the day in photos.

The stores are projected to generate a lot of income, as well as jobs.

Colorado projects $578.1 million a year in combined wholesale and retail marijuana sales to yield $67 million in tax revenue, according to the Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly.

I'll be keeping track of emerging marijuana legal and policy issues, both federal and state, at a new blog on marijuana laws I launched yesterday. Take a look. (It also looks good on mobile devices.)

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    From Denver to Telluride, Colorado Makes History | 29 comments (29 topical)

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    Oh happy day... (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by kdog on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 08:37:40 AM EST
    Love some of the pics...like the one with dozens of wide smiling faces, despite waiting in the cold on a long-arse line.  For some, the long long wait is over.  2 down, 48 to go.

    Be proud Colorado...ya done good, ya done real good.

    $55 dollar quarters of sungrown chronic here (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Dadler on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 01:24:06 PM EST
    But still not legal in the CO manner. California can't be far behind, can it? What would be the point?

    Parent
    And in honor of the memorable day, ... (none / 0) (#15)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 05:12:58 PM EST
    ... some retro stoner comedy from Cheech & Chong -- the short and sweet "Dave's Not Here," and my all-time favorite guilty pleasure, "Sister Mary Elephant":

    "The first day of my vacation. What I did on my summer vacation. The first day of my vacation, I woke up. Then I went downtown, to look for a job. Then I hung out in front of the drug store. The second day of my summer vacation, I woke up. Then I went downtown, to look for a job. Then I hung out in front of the drug store. The third day of my summer vacation, I woke up. Then I went downtown, to look for a job. Then I got a job, keeping people from hanging out in front of the drug store. The fourth day of my summer vacation ..."

    Classic.

    Parent

    This Morning... (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 10:50:55 AM EST
    ...on the TV, they were in Colorado and it was craZy, but every person they interviewed who was against the law, included a recovering drug abuser, had some version of "The Kids...".

    The last refuge of the truly deluded, those damn kids, as if THC didn't exist and wasn't available in every single high school in the country.  Still not sure how a law for people 21+ is going to suddenly turn every kid in Colorado into a pot head.  Which apparently is worse than them being the GD devil.  Thanks Mr & Mrs Reagan for that.

    Still can not believe the will of the people is being exercised in an adjacent state, craZy.  I have a hard time believe it will sustain, hoping, but it just seems so unreal.  Colorado is more liberal in terms of THC than Amsterdam with Washington right behind.

    And the effect they are dreading here in Texas, spillover, has been in effect since CO has legalized it for medical purposes.  There is definitely a surplus that is benefiting all users, even the ones outside CO.

    Ben & Jerry's weighs in... (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by unitron on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 11:20:10 PM EST
    ...on Twitter.

    Bwahaha! (none / 0) (#31)
    by Zorba on Fri Jan 03, 2014 at 03:04:06 PM EST
    Too cute.
    But way "back in the day, " it wasn't ice cream.
    It was potato chips and French onion dip, plus pizza (delivered, of course).      ;-)

    Parent
    yeah, i'll believe that when i see audited figures (none / 0) (#2)
    by cpinva on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 10:41:24 AM EST
    I'm not able to trace the source of these projected sales and excise/sales tax revenues, so as far as I'm concerned, someone just pulled them out of thin air.

    two aspects of this that get conveniently left out of the equation:

    1. as more stores open, price competition will naturally develop, reducing the retail sales, unless the state sets a minimum selling price. this will negatively affect retail sales taxes.

    2. that retail price competition will put downward pressure on wholesale suppliers, negatively affecting the excise tax component of projected tax revenues.

    oh, and one more thing, any idiot can grow his/her own, cutting out all other parties in the revenue stream.

    so yeah, i'll believe it when I see it confirmed by independent third parties.

    I Don't Know About That (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by ScottW714 on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 12:36:57 PM EST
    Of course they pulled it out of thin air, there is no model in the world to calculate the demand for legal weed and how being able to grown your own will effect supply, which seems nominal at best.

    People can distill their own alcohol, churn their own butter, and grow their own vegetables, but for a variety of reasons, most just pay others to do it.

    The price has been established on the black market, it's the consumption is the unknown variable. Especially the tourism angle.

    Alcohol sales and licensing generated about $45M in 2012 for Colorado.

    Either way, I hope it turns out to be a "Winner, Winner, chicken dinner" for the state.

    Parent

    there are official numbers (none / 0) (#4)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 12:09:20 PM EST
    for example, the Colorado Dept of Revenue's 2013 report on medical marijuana sales for fiscal year 2012 (7/11 - 7/12.)  (obviously these numbers will be much smaller than the numbers for recreational marijuana.)

    *Retail Sales $ 219,320,929
    * Sales Tax   $ 5,982,950

    For Denver

    • Retail Sales 96,673,823
    • 2,640,665

    You can find the medical marijuana numbers for 2013 by quarter here, with the fourth quarter report showing the totals for the year.

    For 2013, the retail sales of medical marijuana jumped to $338,646,922. and sales tax to $9,112,237. Denver had 152,303,546 in sales and paid $4,179,751 in sales tax.

    There are several reports by policy groups crunching the numbers. I've written about some before. Just google them instead of making unsubstantiated claims.

    Parent

    Here's a report from the (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 12:13:09 PM EST
    Colorado legislature.

    Parent
    and one from the (none / 0) (#6)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 12:17:04 PM EST
    Colorado Legislative Council Staff

    Parent
    one more report (none / 0) (#8)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 12:38:23 PM EST
    from Colorado Futures at Colorado State Univ.

    • the total dollar value of the retail and wholesale markets for adult marijuana are estimated to be $605.7 Million and $144.8 Million, respectively.
    • Applying the 15% tax at wholesale, the 2.9% state sales tax at retail and the proposed special sales tax at retail of 15% yields the following tax revenue estimates for 2014‐15, the first fiscal year of adult marijuana:
    • A 15% excise tax imposed at the point of cultivation will yield $21.7 Million
    •  A special sales tax of 15% will yield $90.9 Million
    • The existing state sales tax of 2.9% will yield $17.6 Million


    Parent
    Or not (none / 0) (#9)
    by jbindc on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 12:43:42 PM EST
    Marijuana legalization in Colorado may not pay for itself, study finds

    Parent
    It will be interesting to see how this shakes out (none / 0) (#14)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 02:55:53 PM EST
    regarding retail sales price, volume and tax revenue.

    Parent
    But honestly, jb, that study ... (none / 0) (#16)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 05:26:43 PM EST
    ... fails to take into account estimated tax revenues from increasing late-night sales at the Taco Bell and Jack In the Box drive-through windows, thanks to escalating statewide rates of the munchies.

    Parent
    Jeez, Jeralyn. (none / 0) (#17)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Jan 02, 2014 at 05:28:30 PM EST
    People are going to have to give up smoking pot just to keep track of all those numbers.

    Parent
    Not Really (none / 0) (