Colorado voters handily approved a state ballot measure imposing special excise and sales taxes on recreational marijuana Tuesday, The Denver Post reported.

With 65 percent of the vote in, the measure was winning almost two-thirds approval.

A pleased Mike Elliott of the Medical Marijuana Industry Group said, "The passage of Prop AA means Colorado will have a strong and well-funded regulatory system."

Several local marijuana tax measures also were winning big.

Proposition AA, advocates say, is expected to bring in $67 million a year. Of that, $27.5 million generated by the excise tax would go toward school construction, as specified in last year's constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana use and let pot to be sold to anyone over 21 at specially licensed stores.

The rest of the money would go toward paying for the regulation of the pot shops, as well as any side effects from marijuana legalization. Some cities, which will receive a share of the statewide sales tax on pot, are also looking at using the money for non-marijuana-related projects, such as road repairs.

Recreational marijuana sales would also be subject to standard state and local sales taxes.

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