Trap!t
A new report says that the legal marijuana trade is estimated at $1.43 billion for 2013, and that number could be 64 percent higher by next year, making it the fastest growing industry in the country right now.
Medical marijuana is now legal in 20 states, with Colorado and Washington making all marijuana legal starting in January. As The Huffington Post reports, 14 more states are likely to make the stuff legal in the next five years, meaning that the industry could be pulling in $10 billion a year by 2018. It’s predicted that Colorado alone will add $359 million in marijuana sales in 2014, after the new law takes effect.
This makes pot a faster growing industry than smartphones, or addictive smartphone games that convince you to spend another dollar every time you’re stuck.
As of August, Attorney General Eric Holder was essentially giving the go-ahead for states making marijuana legal to implement their own regulatory systems, despite the fact that pot remains illegal at the federal level. In California, that regulatory system may end up being the ABC, the board that regulates alcohol and liquor licenses statewide. We’re likely to see a ballot measure legalizing marijuana statewide in 2016, and unlike in 2008, it’s likely to pass this time.
Related: Mother of 5-Year-old Medical Marijuana Patient Explains How Pot Helps Her Son
If you’d like to discuss medical marijuana, contact Ryan Hurley, director of the Rose Law Group Medical Marijuana Dept. rhurley@roselawgroup.com
