Elliot Mercier 
 
Back before legalization of cannabis came into full effect, releasing the floodgates of would-be shopkeepers and green beaming enthusiasts, one of the most popular arguments for the legalization of cannabis involved one of the most common buzz phrases that your cookie-cutter politician would use: “boost the economy”. Since legal acquirement of marijuana and access to what’s considered a legitimate medical resource to many was something that a lot of people obviously wanted, the idea that all the sales and taxes imposed would help stimulate the economy was a novel idea. However, with the numbers reported during each quarter of the year, the rewards reaped from taxes alone have been considered disappointing.

By June of this year, economists gathered that the government would be able to accumulate at least 70 million dollars in taxes but the total gathered by that time resembled only a third of that projection. This optimistic projection was likely made with ignorance to the fact that the amount of marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts was far too low. The amount of shops available was sparse, compounded by the distance they had from each other. This was ultimately a safe move though, because if shops were rushed out and the organizations giving out licenses were careless in their candidates, there could have been worse omissions and oversights than missed tax collection, such as improperly labeled products, consumer violations and zoning issues regarding how close the establishment would be to a public service building such as a school.

For the overall year, tax projections were falling between 120 – 160 million dollars, and even with the up and coming shops in Massachusetts, it won’t be enough to meet that target. However, it’s not all bad news, the actual profits earned through cannabis sales, recreational and medicinal, has been fairly lucrative: by the first half of the year, recreational marijuana accumulated 140 million dollars and the monthly average has increased steadily by 6 million every month after May, leading to an estimated 540 million by the end of the year. So the government might not have lucked out on tax revenue but many businesses benefited from the normal business transactions.

While 2019 wasn’t exactly a big year for economic growth, it was ultimately prime time for a lot of the businesses coming to and opening up in Worcester. The boost won’t be as immediate as everyone would ideally like but the amount of jobs that will open up throughout the industry are a fair and necessary bonus. The year has been full of ups and downs for marijuana consumers: while businesses have blossomed to make access to the green stuff much easier than it ever has, the laws and confusion surrounding the “legal” properties of it has still made delving into it a bit of a minefield.

Welp, maybe we’ll get a bigger boost next year and the men in suits will see what can be improved, or perhaps they can make rash decisions and the eager will have to wait longer.