Over 30% Increase in the Amount of Flower Exchanged in Alaska During March 2019 Compared to March 2018
The Alaska Department of Revenue (ADOR) recently posted information on tax collections from the wholesale side of the state’s adult-use cannabis industry for March 2019. According to the state’s data, total tax revenues and wholesale trading volumes expanded in March. Alaska’s weekly Spot Index steadied somewhat in March, after declining consistently through the first two months of this year. Still, March’s monthly average composite price decreased relative to February’s.
The tax collection figures from ADOR state that licensed growers paid a total of $1,646,450 in tax to the state in March. Receipts from the levy on cultivators increased by 7% month-over-month, relative to $1,539,128 collected in February.
March saw 1,468 pounds of flower change hands in the state’s market, up by 10.5%, compared to the 1,329 pounds traded in February. Flower sold or transferred by Alaskan growers is taxed at a flat rate of $50 per ounce ($800 per pound).
The volume of trim that was traded in March was 1,355 pounds, representing an increase of 9.1% from February’s total of 1,242 pounds of trim sold by cultivators. Wholesale sales volume of trim in January 2019 still represents the highest monthly total of such plant material moved in the state’s market at 1,532 pounds. Trim is taxed at a rate of $15 per ounce ($240 per pound).
363 pounds of “immature/seedy/failed” plant material was transferred or traded by growers in March, down by 17.7% from 441 pounds in February. “Immature/Seedy/Failed” plant material is taxed at a rate of $25 per ounce ($400 per pound) and was only introduced as a taxable product category at the outset of this year.
The volume of flower and trim that changed hands in March 2019 saw significant increases compared to the same month the year prior. In March 2018, 1,122 pounds of flower and 842 pounds of trim were traded or transferred in Alaska’s licensed system. March’s 2019’s trading volumes for those product types represent year-over-year rises of 30.8% and 60.9%, respectively.
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