2. Legal Marijuana Is Not Everywhere
Far from it—and to use some major cities as a case study, legal marijuana may be smaller in footprint than medical cannabis.
In order for the open sale of cannabis to happen in California, local lawmakers have to decide they want it. As of Jan. 3, only a select few major cities and cannabis-friendly counties have done so.
The first adult-use sale in the city of Los Angeles is still a month or more away. Businesses wishing to join the new pot economy could start applying on Wednesday, and processing their paperwork could take weeks. Using LA as a further case study, only 390 out of more than 1,400 existing businesses are expected to qualify for state licenses. (Every retailer open on Jan. 1 was in business on Dec. 31 as a medical-marijuana dispensary.) It will take a long time and much legislating for California to be truly inundated with legal weed.