The US state of Colorado has realised $44 million (£29 million) in tax revenue in the first year of legalised cannabis sales.
It was the first state to authorise legal sales of the narcotic for recreational use to anyone over the age of 21. Sales are authorised only in shops licensed by the state.
Fees charged to the cannabis industry and taxes on medicinal sales saw the total collected rise to $76 million.
The second legalising state, Washington, brought in $16.4 million in taxed since July when sales began.
A number of other states are considering making sales legal and so are watching closely to see just how much tax can be raised.
Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard University economist, said: “Being able to claim some non-trivial tax revenue is important to the legalisation movement."
The industry, including medical sales, was worth $2.6 billion in 2014 and could rise to $10.2 billion by 2018, according to the ArcView Group, a San Francisco financial network which specialises in cannabis investment.
