Washington marijuana sales reach $709 million in 2015

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Legal marijuana sales totaled more than $709 million in 2015 in Washington state. A market research firm says that represents sales growth of more than 30 percent over the previous year.

The News Tribune reports ArcView estimates national sales of marijuana totaled $5.7 billion in 2015, an increase from $4.6 billion in 2014.

“In 2014, adult use sales in Washington accounted for 18.6 percent of all legal adult use sales in the country. By the end of 2015, Washington’s share of the legal adult use market had risen to nearly half,” said Giadha DeCarcer, CEO of cannabis data researcher New Frontier.