Wisconsinites Paid Illinois Estimated $36M In Weed Tax In 2022: Report

WISCONSIN — Possession of marijuana is illegal across Wisconsin for both recreational and medicinal use. But the law hasn't stopped many of the state's residents from purchasing cannabis where it is legal, and taxed, in Illinois.

Last year, Wisconsinites bought enough pot from bordering dispensaries to pay over $36 million in tax revenues to Illinois, according to a recent analysis from the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Weed became recreationally legal for adults in Illinois in 2020. The fiscal bureau's memo (which is available in its entirety online) was dated March 10 and addressed to State Sen. Melissa Agard, a Democrat. On Thursday, Agard distributed the memo alongside a news release to the media.

The memo details sales and excise taxes collected by Illinois and estimates of how much of that came from Wisconsin residents. Analysts said the data was sourced from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which publishes monthly cannabis sales figures.

There are dispensaries in four Illinois counties immediately bordering Wisconsin, including Jo Daviess, Lake, McHenry and Winnebago, the memo notes. Out-of-state purchases accounted for $121 million or 50.6 percent of all sales in those counties, the memo said citing data from the IDFPR.

The analysis assumed that all out-of-state sales in the bordering counties were made to Wisconsinites, but the memo noted other out-of-state buyers may have made purchases. The memo also noted that Wisconsinites may have purchased from other counties in Illinois.

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