Canada is way ahead of the US in the cannabis industry. The US is still bogged down in fighting yesterday’s war, and the American federal government hasn’t reconciled the issues for banking. Meanwhile, more than half the states are raising money from marijuana, and medical usage is nearly nationwide. Biden failed miserably in amending the national rules. Trump said he would do it but hasn’t moved on it yet.
Please remember that alcohol excise taxes in America generate more than $10 billion a year of federal revenue (“Alcohol Excise Taxes: An Overview,” https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48181). Tobacco excise taxes generate some $8–9 billion (“Tobacco tax revenue and forecast in the United States from 2000 to 2029,” https://www.statista.com/statistics/248964/revenues-from-tobacco-tax-and-forecast-in-the-us/).
But in the US, cannabis taxation is nonexistent at the federal level. The range of estimates for potential American federal revenue from cannabis is between $10 and $20 billion a year, and those estimates keep rising as the states’ revenue shows rising actual collections. Musk, you smoked weed publicly; what are you waiting for?
Here’s a quote from Todd Harrison’s “Cannabis Confidential” Substack:
As Canadians focus on ways to strengthen their economy in the wake of ongoing threats from the US government, many in the Canadian cannabis industry say they think cannabis is being overlooked as an economic powerhouse—and they have a global advantage over U.S. operators given the current domestic federal treatment.
(“U.S. Canna Getting Lapped,” https://toddharrison.substack.com/p/us-canna-getting-lapped)
See also:
“Flower Power,” https://toddharrison.substack.com/p/flower-power
And “REDRUM,” https://toddharrison.substack.com/p/redrum (excerpt follows)
The Canadian government earned $15.7B from the control and sale of alcohol ($13.5B, -0.5%) and adult-use cannabis ($2.2B, +12.6%) in the last fiscal year.
Sales of alcohol fell 3.8% in ‘23-’24, or the largest volume decline ever recorded since Canada began tracking alcohol sales in 1949. The decrease in alcohol sales occurred despite a 2.5% increase in the price of alcoholic beverages.
Sales of adult-use cannabis increased 11.6% or $0.5B from one year earlier, reaching $5.2B in ‘23-’24. The cannabis sales growth occurred despite a 2.8% decrease in the price of adult-use cannabis.
And, finally, “Analysis: Legalization Has Significantly Displaced Canada’s Illicit Cannabis Market,”
https://norml.org/blog/2025/04/07/analysis-legalization-has-significantly-displaced-canadas-illicit-cannabis-market/
