The Mississippi government has collected millions of dollars in revenue from medical marijuana businesses, even though MMJ sales have not yet begun.
The state earned roughly $5.8 million in total licensing and application fees collected from cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, transporters, processors and laboratories through Sept. 19, according to multistate government news website The Center Square.
That figure includes $4.5 million in revenue from medical marijuana dispensaries alone.
The state has issued 119 dispensary licenses to date, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
Dispensary license fees include an initial $15,000 nonrefundable application fee and a $25,000 annual license fee.
Mississippi’s medical marijuana industry will be subject to a 5% excise tax on wholesale sales from growers to dispensaries as well as a 7% tax on retail sales.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a medical marijuana bill into law in February.
The state’s licensing process began this summer, but sales aren’t expected to launch until later this year.
