YELLOWSTONE COUNTY, Mont. - A marijuana shop in Yellowstone County said business is up 2 1/2-3 times since they started selling adult-use marijuana this year.
"It's been pretty dramatic in terms of the increase," Assistant Manager at Lighthouse Organics David McMahon said.
"There are no more slow days here," he added. "No more slow days. I remember back in early 2020, when I would get here, I would unlock the doors. We would have maybe a dozen people. We've experienced a tremendous increase, triple or double that."
McMahon said they've hired additional staff and extended their closing time by an hour.
The Montana Department of Revenue said the estimated taxes on marijuana sales so far this year are:
$780,057.94 for medical marijuana sales
$5,535,118.81 for adult use marijuana sales
At the state level, adult-use marijuana sales are taxed 20%. Medical marijuana sales are taxed 4%.
Some counties also have a local option tax. In Yellowstone County, that tax is 3% for both medical and recreational marijuana sales.
You can see estimated marijuana sales by county for January and February. Matt Brotherton with the Montana Department of Revenue said the numbers are estimates because marijuana shops are required to turn their numbers in once a quarter. The deadline is April 15 for first quarter numbers.
On its website, the Montana Department of Revenue said marijuana taxes at the state level will be spent in the following way:
The 20% Adult-Use Cannabis Tax and 4% Medical Marijuana tax are distributed at the state level: