States have generated more than $28.4 billion in tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales since the first markets launched over a decade ago, a new report from a top pro-legalization advocacy group shows.
Some states, it points out, are now generating more revenue from legal cannabis than from alcohol.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) analysis also shows that in 2025 alone, adult-use cannabis sales generated more than $4.5 billion for states’ public coffers—the highest-ever total in a single year since the first recreational legalization laws were approved by voters in 2012 and topping 2024’s haul of $4.4 billion in state marijuana tax revenue.
Last year, the report says, seven states each collected more than $200 million in adult-use marijuana taxes—with three of those generating more than half a billion dollars in recreational cannabis revenue.
California alone collected over $1 billion in marijuana money to fund government programs and services in 2025.
“At a time when pressure is building on state budgets, adult-use cannabis taxes are providing relief,” Adam J. Smith, MPP’s executive director, said in a press release. “Legal adult-use markets have become powerful economic engines, creating thousands of new jobs and small business opportunities across the country. While economic growth and state revenues aren’t the primary reasons for legalizing adult-use cannabis, the positive financial impact is undeniable.”
“That said, it is important to keep in mind that overtaxing legal cannabis can be self-defeating, driving consumers back to the unregulated, unsafe and untaxed illicit market, which is bad for state budgets and for public health and safety,” he said. “More importantly, ending prohibition has spared hundreds of thousands of individuals the trauma of arrest and incarceration, while data shows teen cannabis use rates have actually decreased in most legal states.”
Read the full article at Marijuana Moment
