Vermont’s retail cannabis market is growing at a steady pace

Vermont’s retail cannabis market is growing at a steady pace according to the latest tax revenue. There are just over 40 licensed retail stores selling cannabis across the Green Mountain State. One of the newer ones is the Tea House in White River Junction. Recently released tax revenue from the state’s 14% excise tax on cannabis shows the industry, as a whole, is also growing. During the first month of retail sales, the state collected about $329,000 in cannabis excise taxes. Back then, only a handful of retailers were online. In November, as more stores opened, another $523,000 was collected. And in December, the state saw nearly $800,000 in new revenue from the cannabis tax for a total of $1.6 million to date. The Cannabis Control Board projects the state will take in roughly $16 million from the cannabis excise tax in its first full fiscal year and officials say so far, the latest numbers in this fledgling marketplace are in line with those projections. Cannabis excise tax revenue goes to the General Fund. However, 30% of the revenue — not to exceed $10 million per fiscal year — will be used to fund substance misuse prevention programming.