SALEM, Ore. — Sales and tax figures collected by state agencies may finally solve one of Oregon’s long-running farm crop questions: whether marijuana is indeed the state’s most valuable crop, as cannabis advocates have always maintained.

Tight controls and reporting requirements by the Oregon Department of Revenue and Oregon Liquor Control Commission should result in accurate information about pot, said Bruce Pokarney, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture. The department compiles an annual list of the state’s most valuable crops.

The temporary sale of recreational marijuana by medical marijuana dispensaries became legal in Oregon last October. Dispensaries charge a 25 percent tax on sales. When licensed recreational retailers begin operating in January the state tax will be 17 percent.

As of May 30, the state had collected $14.9 million in marijuana sales taxes. [Read more at The Cannabist at The Denver Post]