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: 1) by anubi on Tuesday January 02 2018, @08:20AM (1 child)
I haven't been keeping up with this... is it legal to grow your own?
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 02 2018, @07:47PM
In all the state's that have legalized recreational use yeah, up to X number of plants. Here in CA I think it is 6(?) and you can legally carry up to an ounce of weed. I can't wait for the end of the black market, it attracts so many scum sucking slimeballs. The decent folks are all going through the hassle of legalizing their operations, the fuckwads hopefully just go back to working normal jobs.