California is the world’s sixth largest economy, only outpaced by the US (as a whole), China, Japan, Germany, and the UK. The Golden State’s economic output for 2015 came in at $2.46 trillion.
Let’s be clear: We’re talking about a single US state economy compared with those of entire countries. California, on that scale, is number six.
And that’s why it’s such a tremendously big deal that California just fully legalized marijuana, just like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska before it. Nevada and Massachusetts also legalized. Maine has a slim 1% margin with 97% of the precincts in at the writing of this article. They join Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon.
California’s Proposition 64 passed on November 8, and retail sales are set to begin by January 1, 2018. Residents and visitors can start legally consuming marijuana immediately, as of 12:01 a.m. on November 9, but have nowhere to legally purchase cannabis for recreational use until 2018.
All of which is to say: Tax revenue isn’t going to start rolling in until 2018.
When it does, California’s looking at an additional $1.5 billion flooding into the marijuana market. That number swells to just shy of $3 billion in 2019, and nearly $4 billion by 2020, based on the latest report from New Frontier Data and ArcView Market Research.
The Business Insider says these numbers don’t even begin to factor in the medical marijuana market or even the savings to law enforcement. See how growers and sellers will be taxed and the complete article here.
