California will begin to sell Recreational Marijuana from the first day of 2018, and a number of retailers have been granted a license to sell the product. The Bureau of Cannabis Control is believed to have issued licenses statewide for distributors, retailers, and cultivators of marijuana.
Daily Mail UK reports that, in the opinion of analysts, marijuana could earn more than beer in terms of Revenue. There is a readymade market in the state for the product, and the forecast for 2018 is approximately $3.7 billion which could go up by another one billion in 2019.
Incidentally, beer brought in revenue of $5 billion this year.
Marijuana is a lucrative industry
Those who dealt in marijuana (also known as weed) used to do it on the sly, but situations have changed over the years and it has turned into an industry that has the potential to earn unbelievable revenue for the state. Distributors of medical cannabis can change track and obtain a license for recreational marijuana. The accessibility would increase and translate into revenue for California. Of course, although it would become legal in the state, it will continue to remain illegal under federal law.
It may be recalled that way back in 1996, California voters had approved marijuana for medicinal purposes.
That widened the scope of availability of the product and cannabis farmers entered the scene. Later, in November 2016, the voters took another bold step. They made recreational marijuana legal for adults who were 21 and older and allowed growing of up to six plants and being in possession of a certain amount of pot.
Demand is on the rise
California had set the ball rolling to legalize marijuana in steps taken to generate revenue. There were apprehensions that relaxing the control could lead to increase in the instances of drug abuse by the younger generation or more drug-related accidents. However, the fears were unfounded and the state took the bold step to come up with the first medical marijuana law.
Other states like Colorado and Washington went for the recreational marijuana variety, and they were the first states to legalize it in 2012.
According to Newsweek, there are certain rules to be followed even though the recreational marijuana is legal. Each state has its own rules, and one of these is the location where one can consume the herb. Smoking it in public places like at parks, on sidewalks, in businesses, or on federal land is taboo. Another stipulation is whether the user can grow his own, and to what extent. Whether the product can be taken outside state lines is also taken into consideration.
