The marijuana industry has been fueled by legislative measures. These measures have occurred on a statewide basis over the past five or so years. In that time, we have seen a number of states allow for the use and sale of recreational cannabis. With so many states showing success, many places around the U.S. have begun to follow suit.
Is America Ready For More Legal Marijuana
The most recent in the line of places to legalize cannabis has been Illinois. After a large overwhelming vote, Illinois will begin selling the marijuana on January 1st, 2020. The bill will effectively allow those over the age of 21 to purchase up to an ounce of marijuana. The state has also posed an excise tax, similar to the others that have done so. The state has shown that they stand to gain as much as $170 million in tax revenue.
More Marijuana States
With Illinois and parts of the Midwest showing that cannabis can be successful, more eastern states such as New Jersey and New York have been working to put their version of legal cannabis forward as well. Many have stated that they believe these two states could be next on the list of those legalizing cannabis, but the reality is that they may have to wait until 2020 to put a vote forward to do so.
New Jersey has been working for some time with their governor Phil Murphy (D), to put forth a new bill that would allow the substance. After some pushback from the government, the bill did not receive the full support it needed to, to pass. The same story occurred in New York during the same time period, but it looks as though 2020 may be the year that it happens.
The state of Ohio may seem a bit random for legalizing cannabis. However, they have been working to put it on the November ballot for 2020. If the bill is approved, those who are over the age of 21 can buy cannabis within the state. This, of course, would be met with the normal excise tax, but this seems standard across the board.
Is The U.S. Ready For A Change
All in all, the only issue that remains is that of fair legislation to reflect what the people would like moving forward. The next few years will remain extremely instrumental in seeing if legal cannabis can work in these various states around the U.S. Until that time, it seems as though we will have to gauge the success of the market in the states that currently have legal standing for the marijuana plant.
