On Wednesday, July 28, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, D, announced the creation of a new cannabis office funded fully through cannabis tax revenue. The Cannabis Business Office (CBO) would provide economic support for the state’s thriving cannabis industry with a focus on social equity. After seeing how cannabis and hemp industries struggled in the height of the Covid-19 lockdown without receiving federal support, Governor Polis wanted to help his citizens instead of hindering them.
“The Cannabis Business Office shows our administration’s focus on growing this thriving industry that supports jobs and our economy,” Governor Polis said in a press release. “This office will offer tools like technical help and improve access to money for businesses. Where the federal government has fallen behind, Colorado will lead. Colorado is, and always has been, the best place to live, work, grow and sell cannabis.”
The CBO will be part of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), which was created under SB 21-111 to provide better economic support for existing Colorado businesses. Dr. Tristan Watkins will be the CBO Program manager. He hopes the office will “provide novel and ambitious programming to provide more equitable opportunity in the cannabis industry. As the office expands,” Watkins continued, “we are confident it will further solidify Colorado as the leader in the nation’s cannabis industry.”
Cannabis Growth
In the first three months of 2021, Colorado cannabis sales exceeded half a billion dollars, around $560 million. Furthermore, $207 million in sales happened in March alone. The Department of Revenue (DOR) compiles a report for every month of all medical and recreational cannabis sales across the state. In addition, each report doesn’t include any cannabis accessories sold or anything else in licensed dispensaries not containing medical or recreational cannabis.
With $560 million in three months, sales are on pace to reach over a billion dollars this year. Since Colorado’s cannabis industry started recreational sales in 2014, there has been more than $10.5 billion in sales. In return, this created $1.7 billion in tax revenue for the state. 71 percent of tax revenue is required to go to the state’s cannabis tax cash fund. This account helps fund health care, health education, substance abuse prevention, treatment programs, and law enforcement.
The remaining 29 percent becomes divided up between public schools and the state’s general fund. Specifically, public schools receive around 12 percent of the remaining funds while the general fund gets more than 15 percent. In April 2021, public schools received over $14 million in funding from cannabis tax revenue. Many schools used funding for construction projects: older schools received repairs and construction began on new schools.
Opposition
But while cannabis is doing a lot of good for Colorado and its citizens, there are always people in opposition. Currently, it is the state’s Senate Republicans, who expressed their thoughts on the CBO’s creation. “This is getting ridiculous,” they tweeted following the governor’s announcement. However, this isn’t the first time the senate Republicans have spoken out against new measures. At the end of May, they also tweeted about the creation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In the tweet, Republicans seem to mock Democratic efforts to reduce gun violence in Colorado. This trend doesn’t seem to stop with the Cannabis Business Office.
Future
Governor Polis is moving Colorado forward to create a more structural and functioning cannabis industry. By doing so, more jobs continue to rise as demands soar. Colorado seems to be leading the charge once again with this new office focused on social equity and cannabis reform.
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