New York’s coffers are starting to get a financial high from marijuana sales after a slow start.
The Empire State is expected to generate $161.8 million in tax revenues from its legal weed business for the fiscal year ending March 31 — or four times what it raked in last year.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget released last week also projects generating $248 million in revenue from the state-licensed cannabis industry for the next fiscal year running from April 1 to March 31, 2026.
That’s a lot of green — up from $43.3 million raised in 2022-2023 amid a fitful rollout of the program.
State budget officials predict the revenues will then grow to $339 million in FY 2027, $363 million in 2028 and $374 million by 2029, based on expansion of the legal market.
The state taxes ganja wholesalers and retail products.
A wholesale excise tax of 9 percent is imposed on cannabis firms, while an excise tax of 13% is levied at the retail sales level — with 9% going to the state and 4% to participating localities such as New York City.
An excise tax of 3.15 percent also is imposed on the gross receipts from medical cannabis firms that have been in existence for a decade.
Forty percent of the state’s revenue from the legal cannabis taxes are allocated to education funding across the state, while another 40% goes to a community reinvestment program that will provide grants to neighborhoods most impacted by cannabis prohibition.
Recipients of the first round of $5 million in the funding will soon be announced, officials said.
The market has ramped up in recent months after a rocky rollout marred by lawsuits, a massive illegal market and enormous backlogs in the awarding of retail licenses issued by the often-criticized, understaffed and overwhelmed OCM.
Since then, law enforcement officials ramped up their inspections and closures of illicit weed operators under a new state law, and court cases that held up the opening of new legal cannabis dispensaries were resolved.
Hochul also ordered a management shake-up at the OCM and added staff to clear a backlog involving the granting of licenses after a scathing report she commissioned last year issued blunt criticism of how the regulatory agency was run.
The higher “green” tax revenues for the state coincide with New York’s licensed cannabis industry surpassing $1 billion in sales.
Cannabis regulators and marijuana industry merchants will celebrate the milestone in the state Capitol Building on Tuesday. The Empire State Plaza and the Alfred E. Smith Building in Albany will be lit up in green to celebrate the growth in the weed business, too.
There are now 295 licensed cannabis dispensaries in the state — 115 of them in New York City — up from 41 at the end of 2023.
“Last year I fought for new laws to crack down on illegal cannabis shops — and we got it done,” Hochul told The Post.
“Now, legal entrepreneurs are thriving while lawbreakers are being held accountable. It’s extraordinary to reach this milestone of $1 billion in retail sales, and I’m confident the success will continue as New York’s nation-leading equitable cannabis industry grows.”
OCM rep Taylor Randi Lee, said, “This progress would not have been possible without the leadership of Governor Hochul and the support of the Legislature in granting us the enforcement tools needed to combat the illicit market.
“These efforts are turning the tide, ensuring that the regulated cannabis industry continues to grow, thrive, and provide safe, legal options for consumers across New York State.”
New York can only go up. A recent study said it could support 1,000 new pot stores.
