Alaska October cannabis tax revenue nears $1 million

Alaska's commercial cannabis brought in just under a million dollars in state tax revenue in October, according to a state official.

A total of $953,591 was paid by 66 marijuana growers in October, according to data from Kelly Mazzei, excise tax supervisor at the Alaska Department of Revenue tax division.

Once again, revenue continued a steady climb, increasing by about $200,000 from September.

October's numbers also complete the first full year of legal marijuana sales, during which cannabis generated $4,694,645 in state taxes. The state's first marijuana shops opened in late October 2016.

Under Alaska's law, growers pay the tax of $50 an ounce for bud and $15 an ounce for other parts of the plant, like leaves and stems.

Growers sold 1,004 pounds of bud and 626 pounds of trim wholesale in October, the data shows.

Fairbanks had the most growers, with 14 paying taxes. In Anchorage, 10 cultivators paid taxes. North Pole, Soldotna, and Juneau each had four growers. The rest were scattered throughout Southcentral and Southeast Alaska.

The average tax payment was $14,448.

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Many local governments have also put additional cannabis sales taxes in place.

Last year, the Alaska Legislature budgeted half of the cannabis tax to programs aimed at reducing repeat criminal offenders. The other half goes into the general fund.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the time frame of the state's cannabis tax revenue data.