Every time someone lights up a joint in Denver, the city government gets a couple cents in tax revenue. It turns out people have been busy; The city just passed half a billion dollars in taxes collected from legal marijuana.

“So, a lot of people ask us, where did the tax money go?” said Eric Escudero with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses. “$500 million is a lot of money.”

Let’s dig into where that money does go.

Last year, the city brought in $54.8 million in local sales tax, state sales tax and licensing fees. That seems like a lot until you realize the total is down more than $17 million from the year before.

This year, they project to bring in only $31.9 million dollars.

“We do know that we may have hit the peak as far as what marijuana sales will look like,” Escudero said.