Projected marijuana tax revenue in 2024 enough to fully fund Missouri’s health, public safety departments

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – The combined state and local tax revenue generated from cannabis sales in Missouri is projected to reach $238 million in 2024, according to estimates by the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association.

For perspective and scale, that’s one million more dollars than what Gov. Mike Parson recommended to fund Missouri’s Departments of Health & Senior Services and Public Safety combined in 2025.

“Honestly, we, we’ve continued to grow,” said Katie West, who manages Missouri Health & Wellness dispensary in Jefferson City. “We see new people every day. We see people come from out of state. We see people come from all over the place and it’s just really exciting. There’s no shortage.”

The association reported total sales of $2.5 billion since the products were first legalized in 2020, resulting in $370 million in state and local revenue. $984.6 million of that total came from medical marijuana sales.

“We think that the Missouri program has really been an example for the country,” said Jack Cardetti, who represents the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association. “A lot of excited people here in Missouri because they’re able, for the first time of the last few years, to get access to safe, legal, compliant marijuana.”

The state’s constitution, in which laws regulating the marijuana industry are written, specifies how the revenue generated by sales is to be spent.

First, funds are used to cover the state costs of regulating the industry itself. Next, funds are required to be used to perform the required expungements of past marijuana convictions of eligible citizens.

Finally, the remaining funds are split three ways: a portion is allocated to the state’s public defender system; another, to drug treatment services; and finally, to the Missouri Veterans Commission.

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