California legalises cannabis TODAY and experts say it could raise more revenue than beer
With new laws coming into effect today, cannabis in California is now legal for adults 21 and older, and individuals can grow up to six plants and possess as much as an ounce.
AS of today recreational cannabis can be legally bought and sold by retailers across California - and the industry is expected to boom.
The Golden State joins a growing list of other US states where so-called recreational marijuana is permitted despite federal laws classifying it as a controlled substance.
With the new laws coming into effect today, the drug is now legal for adults 21 and older, and individuals can grow up to six plants and possess as much as an ounce.
Incredibly, the state's market for the drug is expected to hit $3.7 billion next year and $5.1 billion in 2019, according to BDS Analytics.
This means it would be generating more revenue than beer - which made $5 billion in California this year.
But finding a retail outlet to buy non-medical pot in California won't be easy, with only about 90 businesses receiving licenses to open on New Year's Day.
Just after midnight, some Californians were raising blunts instead of champagne glasses.
Johnny Hernandez, a tattoo artist from Modesto, celebrated New Year's Eve by smoking "Happy New Year blunts" with his cousins.
He said: "This is something we've all been waiting for. It is something that can help so many people and there's no reason why we should not be sharing that."
The state banned "loco-weed" in 1913, according to a history by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The first attempt to undo that by voter initiative in 1972 failed, but three years later felony possession of less than an ounce was downgraded to a misdemeanor.
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In 1996, over the objections of law enforcement, President Clinton's drug czar and three former presidents, California voters approved marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Twenty years later, voters approved legal recreational use and gave the state a year to write regulations for a legal market that would open in 2018.
Today, 29 states have adopted medical marijuana laws. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana.
Since then, five more states have passed recreational marijuana laws, including Massachusetts, where retail sales are scheduled to begin in July.
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