City officials in Anchorage, AK, reported that the city’s four cannabis dispensaries sold around $440,000 to local consumers in January. That generated $22,000 in sales tax for Anchorage. January marked the first full month of city cannabis tax collection.
The total city tax revenue wasn’t that much more than it was in December, when the first shop, Arctic Herbery, opened its doors on Dec. 15. Two other stores opened in the following days.
Blyss Cruz, a manager in Anchorage’s Treasury Division, told the Alaska Dispatch News that the half-month of sales in December generated $19,880 in sales tax.
Anchorage collected a 5% city cannabis sales tax, which was approved in April 2016. That’s a separate tax from the state excise tax of $50 per ounce of cannabis bud, and $15 per ounce for other parts of the plant.
According to the Alaska Dispatch News, shops across the state faced supply shortages going into January, which affected business. Only a few Anchorage growers had started producing at that time, leaving the city fairly dry of cannabis during the month.
There are now six cannabis dispensaries open in Anchorage, and 18 across the state of Alaska.
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Gage Peake is a former staff writer for Leafly, where he specialized in data journalism, sports, and breaking news coverage. He's a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
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