Legal Weed Raked in a Ridiculous Amount of Money in 2017

Most of that dough, unsurprisingly, came from California.

Cannabis field Lebanon
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A cannabis field is seen near a vineyard on the outskirts of Deir al-Ahmar in the Bekaa Valley, one of the poorest regions in Lebanon and notorious for its cannabis production, on October 3, 2017. Lebanon's Coteaux Heliopolis cooperative was launched in 1999 and now covers around 250 hectares of vineyard (620 acres) in Deir al-Ahmar. The first harvest in 2003 and the resulting windfall sparked a wave of interest among cannabis farmers in the area.

Cannabis field Lebanon

It looks like money really does grow on trees—or, in this case, weeds.

According to a new report from Arcview Market Research, cannabis sales are set to hit $10 billion (that’s billion, with a Bill Gates B) in 2017. That’s a 33% increase from 2016, and 2018 sales could jump by an ever greater percentage than that.

The increase is due in no small part to legislative battles being won in favor of legalization. In 2018, Canada is expected to legalize the recreational sale of marijuana, but California will be the real deal maker. The Golden State will begin selling recreational pot next year as well, and the market is valued at a whopping $7 billion (and $1 billion per year in tax revenue)—that’s bigger than the Colorado, Washington, and Oregon markets combined.

Ever since California passed Proposition 64, legalizing the adult recreational use of marijuana, state government workers have been working tirelessly to create a system of regulation that could be applied to its budding (pun intended) weed economy. The due date? January 1st, 2018. And the regulations better work if the state wants to edge out black market sellers and their stake in the profits.

If the future of legalization continues to trend positive, Arcview expects legal marijuana sales to soar as high (another pun intended) as $24.5 billion by 2021. Tax-wise It’s not nearly enough to make a dent in the estimated $1 trillion that the GOP tax plan will add to the national debt—but hey, it’s something.

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