Illinois Medical Marijuana Patients Spend $800K in First Month

Illinois’s first dispensaries opened and began medical marijuana sales on November 9, 2015. In the first month of sales, 1,713 patients visited the dispensaries, and spent $800,000 on marijuana. Currently the state has 3,600 patients in its program.

The price per gram of marijuana averages $14 to $15 in Illinois. Wholesalers pay a 7-percent tax to the state on all sales.

The state has collected $56,550 in tax dollars from legal marijuana sales in its first month, as reported by NBC Chicago. Program director, Joseph Wright proudly announced the tax dollar revenue numbers.

As the number of qualified and approved patients grows, a greater amount of tax dollars will become available to the state. This also means that the number of licensed dispensaries will also grow in order to meet the needs of the program’s patients.