Two more U.S. states voted to legalize recreational marijuana during the primaries: Michigan and North Dakota.
Michigan voted for it. North Dakota against it. That brings the number of states that allow recreational marijuana to 10.
Approximately 1⁄4 of Americans have voted to legalize recreational marijuana.
Almost all states now allow medical marijuana today.
A Gallup poll showed the bulk of Americans now favor legalization. The social stigma that marijuana is harmful continues to fade away to nothing.
Even 64% of Republicans are in favor of legalizing it. Why? Because of the tax revenue.
California generated $75M in tax revenues in the 2nd quarter of 2018. On track to deliver a cool $300M in extra money in 2018. (And that’s only the beginning: although legal, access is severely restricted.)
Even our law enforcement are disregarding marijuana as an issue…
In Florida, Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said: “Marijuana is probably the least of our problems.” (Even better, law enforcement officials see cannabis tax revenues as a welcome boost to their own budgets. As a telling example, Colorado’s law enforcement officials requested 10% of the State’s gross cannabis tax revenues.)
And it goes without saying that businesses love marijuana too. Retail recreational sales of cannabis are now $6.5 billion (bn) across the 10 states.
So what will happen when marijuana becomes legal across all 50 states? Expect a straight-line up and to the right – to the tune of $30bn in a recreational pot. Add another $20bn in marijuana-related products and medications.
Federal Government: THE Big Impediment
However, marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug for some reason. That means, per Federal law, it is absolutely illegal and no prescriptions can be written for it. Also included in that list: Heroin, LSD, and quaaludes (among
others). The Alice in Wonderland situation: pot is illegal by Federal mandate and legal in most States.
