Vermont's cannabis marketplace has been open for a year, and is generating millions

Vermont's cannabis marketplace is about to mark its first year in operation.

Retail sales for the current fiscal year are projected to top $100 million, generating more than $20 million in new state revenue.

At the beginning of last October, the Vermont Cannabis Control Board licensed a handful of retail stores. Now the Board has issued almost 70 retail licenses and more are on the way.

Control Board chairman James Pepper says Vermont consumers have strongly responded to having a state-controlled marketplace.

"Consumers want the regulated product, they want the education, they want know what they're consuming, they want to read the labels and kind of have some consistency and some variety, so I'm excited," Pepper says.

Pepper says the new revenue will primarily benefit "after school" programs and drug education and prevention programs.

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