OKLAHOMA CITY – Medical marijuana sales in Oklahoma soared to a record high in March.
The 7% state tax on purchases of medical marijuana products generated $5,946,977 in tax receipts last month, a nearly 74% increase from March 2020.
MMJ tax collections, coupled with the $7.03 million in state and local sales taxes collected on MMJ purchases, produced a combined total of almost $13 million in tax receipts.
The $5.94 million in MMJ taxes represented $84,956,814 in sales – an average of $230.65 for each of the 368,357 individuals with active licenses authorizing them to buy MMJ products. The 7% MMJ levy has produced more than $97 million in two and a half years, Oklahoma Tax Commission ledgers reflect.
The state Medical Marijuana Authority listed 10,587 active MMJ licenses as of March 5, including 7,004 growers, 2,144 dispensaries, 1,325 processors, 76 transporters, 25 labs, two research facilities and one education facility, and 10 waste disposal facilities, including one in Duncan.
State Question 788, which voters across the state endorsed in 2018 to legalize medical marijuana use in Oklahoma, decrees that 75% of any surplus tax revenue from medical marijuana sales will be routed to the state’s General Revenue Fund and may be spent only for common education. The remaining 25% is earmarked for state Health Department drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
“Surplus” means any tax proceeds that exceed the agency’s operational budget. Terri Watkins, the Medical Marijuana Authority public information officer, said the Authority’s operating budget last year was approximately $25 million.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 35 states (including Oklahoma) have medical and/or recreational marijuana programs. South Dakota voters approved a marijuana constitutional amendment in 2020, but in February a circuit judge ruled the measure was unconstitutional.