In this June 28, 2017, file photo, marijuana plants grow at the Desert Grown Farms cultivation facility in Las Vegas. A new report finds that legalizing and taxing marijuana boosts revenue for state and local governments, but not by much. The credit rating agency Moody's Investor Service says in a study released Tuesday, May 8, 2018, that legalizing recreational use of marijuana brings governments more money than it costs to regulate it.

Legalizing and taxing marijuana boosts government revenue – a little, report says

A new report finds that legalizing and taxing marijuana boosts revenue for state and local governments, but not by much.

The credit rating agency Moody’s Investor Service says in a study released Tuesday that legalizing recreational use of marijuana brings governments more money than it costs to regulate it.

Despite high taxes on the legal sales of the drug, the revenue accounts for a small portion of government budgets. In Colorado, the first state to legalize recreational use, a marijuana tax brings in the equivalent of about 2 percent of the state budget.

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