San Francisco Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Annual Sales Estimate: $41 Million

The San Francisco controller's office has done an unprecedented analysis of the amount of sales tax revenue going to the general fund from the sale of medical cannabis at permitted city dispensaries. The results are staggering.

All other things being equal to SF, and adjusted for population, Los Angeles dispensaries might sell an estimated $475 million worth of dispensary cannabis per year, and California clubs might be selling an estimated $1.9 billion in medical cannabis per year.

But the numbers are telling: if legal cannabis is a $1.9 billion industry in California, and the black market is at least as big, as many say — that's a $4 billion a year California industry. Or in other words, it could employ about 66,000 people at a $60,000-per-year salary. And that's just one state.

By contrast, the entire D.E.A. budget is $2.4 billion, employing about 9,236 people.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/LegalizationNation/archives/2012/01/31/san-francisco-dispensaries-annual-sales-estimate-41-million