Recreational and medical marijuana sales showed strong growth in February, the latest month for which the Colorado Department of Revenue has released tax data for the state s most newsworthy industry.
Colorado cannabis shops sold more than $58 million of recreational pot products in February, a 3 percent jump and a 48 percent leap — making it the state s third highest month for retail sales since they began in January 2014. Medical marijuana sales in February totaled $34 million, up 7 percent and up 17 percent .
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Watch .In total, Colorado shops sold $92.7 million in marijuana and related accessories in February, making it the fifth most lucrative month for cannabis sales in state history, according to Cannabist calculations and .
February s pot sales totals represent a 35 percent increase and a 5 percent increase , which is more like a 10-12 percent rise, all things being equal, as February had two less days than January, said Roy Bingham, founder of Boulder-based cannabis industry data group BDS Analytics.
The biggest story in the newly released February data: The thrived in February, more than doubling its total sales from a year ago, according to BDS, a firm that specializes in data collected from dispensaries point-of-sale systems.
The three largest contributors to mammoth, 105-percent sales growth were responsible for a majority of the category s purchases; From February 2015 to February 2016, wax sales were up 248 percent, were up 163 percent and shatter grew by 62 percent, according to BDS data.
, and are different types of cannabis concentrates.
Among the taxes collected on retail pot sales is on wholesale marijuana transfers, which amounted to a record-setting $4 million in February. One of the cornerstones of the campaign that successfully ran Colorado s pot-legalizing Amendment 64 says that the first $40 million raised by that excise tax will go toward school construction projects.
That specific tax totaled $13.3 million in 2014 and $35 million in 2015, and in 2016.
Colorado marijuana outlets sold and . Year-over-year totals for taxes and license fees grew too, from $76 million in 2014 to $135 million in 2015.
There are three types of state taxes on recreational marijuana: the standard 2.9 percent sales tax; a 10 percent special marijuana sales tax; and a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale marijuana transfers. For February, Colorado collected more than $12.2 million in recreational taxes and fees and more than $1.9 million in medical taxes and fees.
Sales stats for Colorado weedA month-by-month look comparing sales of recreational and medical marijuana 2016 Recreational total (2 months)$114,708,1622016 Medical total (2 months)$66,496,8442016: $181,205,0072015 Recreational total (12 months)$587,834,2192015 Medical total (12 months)$408,350,5692015: $996,184,788
