Alaska cannabis revenue climbs again in August

Alaska's cannabis revenue continued to climb in August, a state official says.

Fifty-six marijuana cultivators paid $694,364 in taxes in August, according to Kelly Mazzei, excise tax supervisor with the Alaska Department of Revenue's Tax Division. Of that, more than $500,000 was paid in cash.

"We continue to see steady revenue growth each month as new cultivators come on board," Mazzei said.

In August, there were 10 more cultivators paying taxes, and revenue increased upward of $100,000 from July.

Under Alaska law, growers pay the state's tax. Bud is taxed at $50 per ounce, and other parts of the plant, like the stems and leaves, are taxed at $15 per ounce.

A total of 734 pounds of marijuana bud and 447 pounds of other parts of the plant, called trim, were sold wholesale in August.

[Watch: Take a tour of Great Northern Cannabis on harvest day]

With 14 growers, Fairbanks continued to have the most cannabis taxpayers. Anchorage had nine cultivators. Many other communities — Juneau, Homer, Kenai, Sitka, Talkeetna, Wasilla and Willow among them — had between one and three growers.

Just over $3 million has been collected by Alaska's tax division since marijuana payments began in October. More than a third of that — $1.2 million — came from the Fairbanks area. Around $400,000 came from Anchorage, and $650,000 came from communities on the Kenai Peninsula.

Half of the tax revenue will go to the state's general fund. The other half has been appropriated to programs aimed at reducing repeat criminal offenders.

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