California launches legal sale of cannabis for recreational use
California will launch the world's largest regulated commercial market for recreational marijuana on Monday, as dozens of newly licensed stores catering to adults who enjoy the drug for its psychoactive effects open for business up and down the state.
It becomes the sixth U.S. state, and by far the most populous, venturing beyond legalized medical marijuana to permit the sale of cannabis products of all types to customers at least 21 years old.
Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada were the first to introduce recreational pot sales on a state-regulated, licensed and taxed basis. Massachusetts and Maine are on track to follow suit later this year.
With California and its 39.5 million residents officially joining the pack, more than one-in-five Americans now live in states where recreational marijuana is legal for purchase, even though cannabis remains classified as an illegal narcotic under U.S. law.
The marijuana market in California alone, which boasts the world's sixth-largest economy, is valued by most experts at several billion dollars annually and is expected to generate at least a $1 billion a year in tax revenue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 02 2018, @06:57AM (3 children)
Can we also mention the loss of revenue to criminal gangs? Jeez, it would be worth legalizing just to deprive violent criminals their source of revenue and reduce the expense of law enforcement / incarceration. Anything else, whatever, is icing on the cake.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday January 02 2018, @07:03AM (2 children)
It's also a loss of revenue for law enforcement gangs who use asset forfeiture to take money, drugs, and possessions away from criminals as well as ordinary citizens.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Tuesday January 02 2018, @01:50PM (1 child)
They can still take the money and the assets. You have to prove you weren't buying drugs to even have a chance of getting any back. Good luck proving a negative.
Personally, I can't see how that doesn't violate the fourth amendment, but then I am not a lawyer.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 02 2018, @04:13PM
It does violate the Fourth. But while you might have rights against unlawful seizure of property, apparently, your property doesn't have those rights too. /sarc