Canadian marijuana sector could reap the rewards after US states ease laws

As home to the world’s sixth-largest economy, the state is poised to be a bellwether in the long, national fight to legalize a drug that many argue has untapped benefits, but also poses some threat to public health.

The future of marijuana in the United States may have just changed forever.

Rapper and weed enthusiast Snoop Dogg took to social media to express his feelings on the new laws.

Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas approved medical marijuana measures.

The first state where medical weed was approved twenty years ago was California, which is among five states voting to allow adults to use is for recreational purposes. However, recreational marijuana must go from a cultivator, to a distributor (where a 15% excise tax will be taken), and then to a dispensary.

In California, which with 38 million people will soon become the largest legal marijuana market in the USA, legalization passed with 56% of the vote.

Nevada is also quite in support for legalizing marijuana. “Economically, you’re going to see a lot more people enter the space and a lot more money enter the space”. But as of last night the country has president-elect Trump, who told 9NEWS in July that marijuana is an issue that should be left up to the states.

“The Department of Consumer Affairs is in the early stages of establishing the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation and is not issuing licenses at this time”, according to the California government website.

California: Proposition 64 allows adults to use, possess and transport up to an ounce of marijuana. California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that state could collect up to $1 billion in taxes a year.

Chris Christie, for instance, who is leading Trump’s White House transition team, was adamant while he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination that he would seek to enforce federal pot laws. Like California, the state would also create new taxes for marijuana. Russell sponsored several marijuana legalization bills in the Legislature beginning in 2011, when she says she was met with skepticism and hostility at City Hall.

“Most voters do not think otherwise law-abiding citizens should be criminalized for using a product that is much safer than alcohol”, said Rob Kampia, the executive director of the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. By ending state prohibition, Arizona could have essentially swept away most of the basis for 99 percent of marijuana arrests.

Even the financial industry’s reluctance to do business with marijuana businesses may soon disappear.