OKLAHOMA CITY – Proceeds from the state tax on medical marijuana fell by half a million dollars between June and July, to the lowest level in 28 months.
The 7% excise tax on MMJ generated a little over $4.2 million last month, the least amount since April 2020, when it produced $4.3 million. The excise tax on sales of MMJ products generated $33.11 million during the first seven months of this year, compared to $40.47 million during the same period last year.
The decline in tax receipts might be due, at least in part, to the state’s crackdown on ‘bad actors’ in the industry.
The number of business licenses has declined by 877 in the past 12 months. For example, the number of growers’ licenses has been reduced by nearly 900: from 8,247 on July 1, 2021, to 7,348 on July 6, 2022; the number of processors has been whittled down by 25 during that same period: to 1,433 now.
Meanwhile, during the past year the number of dispensaries has grown by a dozen, to 2,286; transportation licenses increased by 36, to 120; laboratories have increased by two, to 27; and the number of patient licenses has risen by almost 9,100, to 383,037.
MMJ product buys
have exceeded $2.5B
In nearly four years, $2.568 billion has been spent on medical marijuana purchases in Oklahoma since Sooner State voters legalized cannabis in 2018.
MMJ has become a major revenue stream for the state treasury and for municipal coffers alike.
Over the past 46 months, receipts from the 7% state tax on medical marijuana have totaled $179.76 million, and purchases of MMJ products have generated $228.76 million in state and local sales taxes, for a collective total of $408.5 million in tax receipts.
A law enacted last year spells out how the receipts from the 7% MMJ tax will be disbursed.
59.23% of the first $65 million in revenue (or $38,499,500) will be apportioned to the State Public Common School Building Equalization Fund, which is also known as the Redbud School Funding Program for disadvantaged public and charter schools.
34.62% of the first $65 million (or $22,503,000) will be earmarked to underwrite operations of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.
6.15% of the first $65 million (or $3,997,500) will be allocated to the State Health Department for drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
Any MMJ tax collections above $65 million will be deposited in the state’s General Revenue Fund. The excise tax produced $66.17 million last year.