From New York Times..... Comment
California’s marijuana industry, by far the largest in the country, is still celebrating the debut on Monday of recreational marijuana sales. More than 100 dispensaries began selling marijuana across the state, and many more are expected to open in the coming weeks as San Francisco and Los Angeles begin issuing licenses.
Henry G. Wykowski, a leading cannabis lawyer in San Francisco, said he had been inundated with questions from his clients on how they should defend themselves.
“We as an industry will aggressively defend our rights to engage in an activity that is authorized by state laws,” he said. “They have challenged us before,” he said of federal authorities, “and we stood up for our rights and we ultimately prevailed.”
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana more than two decades ago, and the industry is now entrenched. The state produces far more marijuana than it consumes; the surplus is sold illegally across state lines. Those interstate sales have been the prime target of law enforcement officials but have proved difficult to control.
Nationwide, the marijuana market in states that authorize medical or recreational marijuana is estimated at around $6 billion and projected to grow to $9 billion by the end of the year, according to Marijuana Business Daily, a trade publication that conducts research. Chris Walsh, the editorial director of the publication, estimated that there were about 4,500 medical and recreational shops across the country. That number is projected to increase significantly this year as the rollout of licenses proceeds in California.
“They are not going to put this industry back in the bottle,” Mr. Walsh said.