by Jerri Hemsworth | June 6, 2017 2:35 pm
The cannabis culture is quickly becoming the cannabis economy here in California. The November 2016 vote that legalized pot here is scratching the surface of popular knowledge, but those in the know are seeing huge investment in weed business.
The AP released a story earlier this year that projects more than $7 billion in value as an industry, and more than $1 billion in tax revenue locally. California’s appetite for pot reflects more than 10% of the country’s pot business.
But licensing, control, and regulation as lagging behind the investment efforts. State Senator Mike McGuire commented California is, “Building the airplane while it’s being flown.”
In large part the reason is that California is trying desperately to “get it right”. Doing it wrong could result in loss of regulation, loss of tax revenue, and a huge black market.
The effort of California, and other pot-legal states, for that matter, appears to be part of the high stakes game playing out on a national stage. The federal government, under President Obama, basically told states to vigorously control and regulate state operations, and the Feds would stay out. But under the new Trump administration, word of Federal crackdowns is growing.
In a recent Time Magazine article, University of the Pacific professor Mike Vitiello, a marijuana law expert , doubts the Feds can pull it off, saying, “It’s kind of like illegal immigration: You can’t build a wall high enough.”
Only time will tell if pot will be the second wall built by President Trump. •
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