<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div>Some people call it . . . (Come on. You know the words. SING IT!) . . .<div><div><br></div><div><b>"The Wildwood Weed"</b></div><div><a href="Http://www.TomandRodna.com/Wildwood_Weed.mp3">Http://www.TomandRodna.com/Wildwood_Weed.mp3</a></div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of The Cannabist (Denver, Colorado) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/26/pot-sales-taxes-statistics/26031/">http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/26/pot-sales-taxes-statistics/26031/</a></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.8em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 1.25; font-size: 2.75em; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Times, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">$573 million in pot sales: Here are 12 stats that define the year in marijuana</h1><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We can opine anecdotally on how legal marijuana sales changed Colorado in 2014, and we’ve done just that recently — read my <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/23/marijuana-editor/25888/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">“year in the life of the world’s first marijuana editor” essay here</a>.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But since we’re journalists we also track down the hard numbers that show legal marijuana’s definitive impact on the state in this first year of recreational pot sales. And a glance at the numbers, statistics and calculations below will give you a very clear picture of what legal, regulated, first-of-its-kind marijuana looks like in the Rocky Mountains.</span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. 130.3 metric tons</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s Colorado’s <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/07/09/colorado-marijuana-consumption-estimate-130-metric-tons-study-medical-marijuana-recreational/16000/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">annual demand for marijuana</a> — equal to 36.8 million “eighths” of cannabis flower.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Makes you wonder how many Coloradans use cannabis regularly …</em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2. 485,000</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the number of adults who are 21 and older <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/07/09/colorado-marijuana-consumption-estimate-130-metric-tons-study-medical-marijuana-recreational/16000/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">using marijuana regularly</a> (at least once a month), and it’s about 9 percent of the state’s population.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And what about those using more often than that …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3. 23 percent</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the amount of Colorado’s user population that consumes cannabis near daily.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">But what about the out-of-state tourists visiting Colorado and purchasing legal weed …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">4. 90 percent</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the amount of recreational pot sales out-of-state tourists are responsible for at shops <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/07/09/colorado-marijuana-consumption-estimate-130-metric-tons-study-medical-marijuana-recreational/16000/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">in mountain resort communities</a>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">But how much of Colorado’s annual demand are these tourists actually buying …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">5. 7 percent</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the amount of Colorado’s annual pot demand <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/07/09/colorado-marijuana-consumption-estimate-130-metric-tons-study-medical-marijuana-recreational/16000/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">purchased by out-of-state tourists</a>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">But has Colorado pot gotten more or less expensive since the sales first began on Jan. 1 …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">6. -9 percent</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the price drop on a recreational eighth of marijuana flower at a dozen prominent Colorado pot shops from January 2014 ($53.88) to December 2014 ($48.95).<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">But how much did Colorado sell in recreational cannabis …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">7. $246,810,599.03</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the state’s total recreational marijuana sales, as counted from <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/03/10/cool-2-million-taxes-colorados-first-month-recreational-pot/6535/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">January</a> to <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/09/colorado-pot-taxes-sales-october/24974/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">October</a> (November and December data isn’t yet available from the Colorado Department of Revenue).<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And what about total medical sales …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">8. $326,716,273.59</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s Colorado’s total medical marijuana sales, also from January to October. (Yep, that’s $573,526,872.62 in 10 months for both recreational and medical pot sales in Colorado.)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And what are the majority of the state’s medical marijuana patients claiming as their need for medicinal pot …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">9. 103,918</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the number of medical marijuana patients reporting “severe pain” as their condition for a license — or 94 percent of the state’s total patients.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">So what does all of this mean for the taxes raised by the sale of legal marijuana in Colorado …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">10. $60.1 million</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the amount Colorado has brought in via <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/09/colorado-pot-taxes-sales-october/24974/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">taxes, licenses and fees</a> on recreational and medical marijuana, from January to October.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And what about the cannabis-infused edibles, the cookies and gummies and brownies that proved to be surprisingly popular in this first year of recreational sales …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">11: 10 milligrams of THC</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">That’s the <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/10/09/marijuana-edibles-low-dose-products-denver-pot-shops/21153/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">state-standard single-serving size for marijuana edibles</a>, with 100 milligrams maximum allowed in an individually packaged product being sold recreationally.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And did these edibles end up making for a crazy Halloween, as some thought they would …<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></em></span></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">12: Zero</span></font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thats’ the <a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/11/03/reports-kids-getting-pot-laced-treats-halloween-candy/22405/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">number of reports of THC-laced candy given to trick-or-treaters</a> on Halloween, regardless of widespread concern that legal marijuana would lead to pot-laced candies in children’s Halloween hauls.</strong></p><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 1.25em 0px 1.1875em;"><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.2em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/category/news/year-in-review/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Year in review:</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box;">Special report from The Cannabist<br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></font></h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/26/colorado-marijuana-legalization-global-spotlight/26017/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">The big picture:</b> How Colorado’s cannabis experiment put the state into a global spotlight</a></em></p></div><div><img src="cid:C2E4CBED-11D5-49EB-9DE4-1D0C434FDD91" alt="image1.jpeg" id="C2E4CBED-11D5-49EB-9DE4-1D0C434FDD91"></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Cannabis/Marijuana.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Cannabis/Marijuana.jpg</a></div><div>--------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></body></html>