Washington weed sellers brought in nearly $25 million last month

Marijuana retailers in Washington state made nearly $25 million in net revenue last month and roughly $3.6 million in the first week of May, according to newly released data from the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board.

The bounty has steadily grown since the state began legal sales of recreational weed in July 2014. And of course, tax dollars have climbed, too.

Here’s a breakdown of the latest sales statistics from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The revenues should continue to rise in the coming years. The state is getting rid of its previous medical marijuana system, which was made up of a network of collective growers, and merging it with the recreational system. The State Liquor and Control Board will oversee the new medical marijuana program and patients will head to recreational stores that have been authorized to sell medical products or get their weed through home grows or four-person cooperatives.

The state has a financial incentive to merge the markets. Medical marijuana was believed to be undercutting sales of recreational pot, since weed was reportedly easy to obtain and cheaper.

Ted Hesson was formerly the immigration editor at Fusion, covering the issue from Washington, D.C. He also writes about drug laws and (occasionally) baseball. On the side: guitars, urban biking, and fiction.