It’s been almost a year since recreational marijuana sales became legal in the state of California and many were expecting the drug to become a cash crop for the state.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, the industry didn’t pay off that well.
Retailers and growers aren’t having that great of a year if you consider regulations, high taxes, and many cities in within the state banning marijuana shops.
Dale Gieringer, director of the pro-legalization group California NORML, told the Times: “The cannabis industry is being choked by California’s penchant for over-regulation. It’s impossible to solve all of the problems without a drastic rewrite of the law, which is not in the cards for the foreseeable future.”
The Times noted that when Prop. 64 made recreational marijuana legal, state officials projected that there would be as many as 6,000 licensed cannabis shops within the first few years and the industry was expected to bring in $1 billion in revenue in a year.
The state Bureau of Cannabis Control has only issued 547 temporary and annual licenses to marijuana retail stores and dispensaries and state tax revenue is projected to be just $471 million.
