JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In 2025, Missouri’s legal cannabis program generated a record-breaking $255.57 million in sales tax revenue for state and local governments across Missouri. State government received $151.72 million, while local governments that have a licensed dispensary in their community received $103.84 million in 2025. The Missouri Veterans Commission is one of the main recepients of both medical and adult use marijuana sales tax revenue, having already received $105.57 million for veterans’ health care since the program’s inception.
Since the first legal medical marijuana sale in Oct. 2020 to Larry, a cancer patient, and his wife Sue, an RN, the program has generated a total of approximately $750 million in sales tax revenue for state and local governments. The sales tax figures are on top of the millions in licensing fees and payroll taxes that the cannabis industry pays each year.
Missouri is expected to surpass $5 billion in legal, marijuana sales early this year. Monthly cannabis sales data from the Missouri Department of Health’s Division of Cannabis Regulation can be found here: https://health.mo.gov/safety/cannabis/stats.php
“By purchasing from a legal, regulated dispensary, Missourians are helping generate hundreds of millions in revenue each year, which supports local communities, veterans and helps balance the state budget,” said Andrew Mullins, Executive Director of the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association, MoCannTrade. “One hundred percent of the cannabis in Missouri dispensaries is grown right here in Missouri, generating record-breaking sales, creating thousands of jobs, and delivering hundreds of millions in tax revenue to support essential programs.”
Missouri’s legal cannabis program, which the Wall Street Journal profiled last year in a story titled How Missouri Became a Cannabis Mecca, has exceeded every expectation. When Missouri legalized recreational marijuana sales in November 2022, the State Auditor’s fiscal note estimated $40.8 million in annual state revenue and $13.8 million for local governments. Likewise, when medical marijuana was on the ballot in 2018, the state’s official fiscal note predicted $18 million in annual revenues for the state and $6 million for local government.
The $255 million in additional state and local sales tax revenue is in stark contrast to purchasing unregulated or synthetic marijuana, like Delta-8, from a convenience store or smoke shop. In November, Congress passed and President Trump signed legislation that bans intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids that contain more than .3% total THC or more than .4 mg of THC per container. The new federal law takes effect Nov. 12, 2026.
Like many states, Missouri lawmakers are prioritizing legislation this session that aligns state law on unregulated cannabis with the new federal standards. These health and public safety bills, SB 904 and HB 2641, were some of the first to be voted out of committee this session and placed on Senate and House floor calendars.
Here is the breakdown of sales tax generated in 2025:
| Adult Use Sales | Medical Sales | Total monthly sales | State regular tax | Local regular tax | State medical tax | State adult use tax | Local adult use tax | |
| Tax Rate % | 4.225% | 4.185% | 4% | 6% | 3% | |||
| 25-Jan | $108.17 | $14.71 | 122.88 | 5.19168 | 5.142528 | 0.5884 | 6.4902 | 3.2451 |
| 25-Feb | $102.46 | $13.77 | 116.23 | 4.9107175 | 4.8642255 | 0.5508 | 6.1476 | 3.0738 |
| 25-Mar | $115.76 | $15.12 | 130.88 | 5.52968 | 5.477328 | 0.6048 | 6.9456 | 3.4728 |
| 25-Apr | $111.10 | $14.78 | 125.88 | 5.31843 | 5.268078 | 0.5912 | 6.666 | 3.333 |
| 25-May | $117.55 | $15.26 | 132.81 | 5.6112225 | 5.5580985 | 0.6104 | 7.053 | 3.5265 |
| 25-Jun | $110.63 | $14.45 | 125.08 | 5.28463 | 5.234598 | 0.578 | 6.6378 | 3.3189 |
| 25-Jul | $114.91 | $14.75 | 129.66 | 5.478135 | 5.426271 | 0.59 | 6.8946 | 3.4473 |
| 25-Aug | $115.73 | $14.77 | 130.5 | 5.513625 | 5.461425 | 0.5908 | 6.9438 | 3.4719 |
| 25-Sep | $105.48 | $13.43 | 118.91 | 5.0239475 | 4.9763835 | 0.5372 | 6.3288 | 3.1644 |
| 25-Oct | $113.43 | $14.20 | 127.63 | 5.3923675 | 5.3413155 | 0.568 | 6.8058 | 3.4029 |
| 25-Nov | $111.00 | $13.77 | 124.77 | 5.2715325 | 5.2216245 | 0.5508 | 6.66 | 3.33 |
| 25-Dec | $117.91 | $14.68 | 132.59 | 5.6019275 | 5.5488915 | 0.5872 | 7.0746 | 3.5373 |
| Total sales | 1344.13 | 173.69 | 1517.82 | |||||
| Sales tax | 64.128 | 63.52 | 6.95 | 80.65 | 40.32 | |||
| State sales tax | 151.72 | |||||||
| Local sales tax | 103.84 | |||||||
| Total sales tax | 255.57 | |||||||
| All figures are in millions | ||||||||
| AARP estimates that the average 2025 sales tax in Missouri is 8.41% | ||||||||
| None of these figures include sales tax figures generated by unconstitional tax stacking | ||||||||
| None of these figures includes millions in annual license fees or payroll tax | ||||||||
