Good to Know

Weed Index Provides Insight into Price, Consumption and Tax Revenue

Washington, D.C., now has two distinctions for cannabis: home to anti-cannabis Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the priciest weed in the nation.

The cost per gram of cannabis in the nation’s capital averages $18.08 per gram compared to the lowest in Seattle at $7.58, followed by Denver at $7.79 and Los Angeles at $8.14. The data is from a recently released price index from Seedo, a Berlin-based manufacturer of an all-in-one grow device.

Seedo surveyed 120 cities worldwide to gauge price, use and potential tax dollars. “The aim of this study is to illustrate the continuous need for legislative reform on cannabis use around the world, and to determine if there are any lessons to be learned from those cities at the forefront of cannabis legalization,” according to Seedo.

New York has the largest number of people using cannabis, giving the Empire state the potential to ring in the greatest amount of tax revenue—$354.8 million annual if taxed the same amount as cigarettes or $156.4 million if taxed at the country’s average.

To view all of the results, click here.

Photography by Didier Weemaels

Snapshot: U.S. Cities with Partial or Full legalization

#CityLegalityPrice per gram, US$Taxes of cigarettes, % of the most sold brandTotal possible tax collection, if taxed at cigarette level, mil US$Total possible tax collection, if taxed at average US marijuana taxes, mil US$Total Consumption in metric tons
1Washington, DCPartial18.0842.5447.5120.966.18
2ChicagoPartial11.4642.54119.6152.7724.54
3PhiladelphiaPartial11.342.5468.3730.1614.22
4BostonLegal11.0142.5428.5912.616.1
5New YorkPartial10.7642.54354.48156.477.44
6DallasPartial10.0342.5451.0122.511.95
7HoustonPartial10.0342.5489.1339.3220.89
8PhoenixPartial9.3542.5458.2625.7114.65
9MiamiPartial9.2742.5416.247.164.12
10San FranciscoLegal9.2742.5430.9413.657.85
11Los AngelesLegal8.1442.54124.8855.136.06
12DenverLegal7.7942.5420.539.066.2
13SeattleLegal7.5842.5420.599.086.39

Top 10 Most Expensive Cities

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
1TokyoJapanIllegal32.66
2SeoulSouth KoreaIllegal32.44
3KyotoJapanIllegal29.65
4Hong KongChinaIllegal27.48
5BangkokThailandPartial24.81
6DublinIrelandIllegal21.63
7TallinnEstoniaPartial20.98
8ShanghaiChinaIllegal20.82
9BeijingChinaIllegal20.52
10OsloNorwayPartial19.14

Top 10 Least Expensive Cities

#CityCountryLegalityPrice per gram, US$
1QuitoEcuadorPartial1.34
2BogotaColombiaPartial2.2
3AsuncionParaguayPartial2.22
4JakartaIndonesiaIllegal3.79
5Panama CityPanamaIllegal3.85
6JohannesburgSouth AfricaIllegal4.01
7MontevideoUruguayLegal4.15
8AstanaKazakhstanIllegal4.22
9AntwerpBelgiumPartial4.29
10New DelhiIndiaPartial4.38