State's stockings stuffed with legal weed

December ends first year of legalization with new records across the board for adult-use cannabis

Illinois ended the first full year of marijuana legalization with record one-month sales figures across the board in December. (Shutterstock)

By Ted Cox

Illinois ended the first year of marijuana legalization with new records across the board for sales of adult-use cannabis in December.

The state sold a record 1.9 million items of legal weed for the month, collecting $63.5 million from Illinoisans and another $23.4 million from so-called cannabis tourists from out of state, for a total of $86.9 million in sales — all one-month highs, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

For the year, Illinois sold almost a half-billion dollars of recreational pot to state residents, $496.4 million, and another $172.6 million to out-of-staters, for a total of $669.1 million on 14.5 million items sold.

Tax collections typically lag a month behind sales, and the Illinois Department of Revenue was expected to release final figures for the first calendar year of legalization later this week. But through November the state was already closing in on $150 million in tax revenue from recreational marijuana.

Sales appeared to level out in October and November at just over $75 million, halting a streak of six straight months of new monthly records, but the holiday season soared past that mark, consistent with industry estimates that the state could do $1 billion in business on adult-use cannabis in 2021.