Rec Revenues Soar to $25M in Washington State

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Washington State recreational marijuana sales surged in April, almost doubling the amount recorded in January.

Sales via rec shops totaled $24.8 million in April, up from $12.7 million during the first month of 2015, according to the latest data from the state Liquor Control Board.

The number is up significantly from the $2 million brought in during July 2014, the first month that sales began.

From July 1 through the first week of May, total retail sales in Washington State totaled $119.7 million, with projected retail excise tax revenues of $29.9 million.

Gov. Jay Inslee last month signed a bill rolling the state’s troubled medical marijuana industry into its heavily regulated recreational program, though it’s still unclear how that will affect retail sales in coming months.

The new law will effectively do away with MMJ dispensaries that are operating in a gray legal area, and give rec shops the ability to earn a medical endorsement to serve card-holding patients.