Pot sales in Los Angeles are higher than anticipated since marijuana became legal on Jan. 1, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
"Originally the department was given a budget of $1.3 million, and to date we have collected over $2.2 million in licensing fees, and we have around about $800,000 in outstanding invoices, so it is likely that our revenue projections through June will be $3.5 million," Cat Packer, head of the city's Department of Cannabis Regulation, told the Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee of the L.A. City County.
Packer said the city has issued 101 temporary authorizations to marijuana businesses. The first legal marijuana recreational marijuana sales in Los Angeles started on Jan. 20, nearly three weeks after California launched the legal cannabis business.
The state voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016, and L.A. voters approved a measure to set up regulatory measures for the cannabis industry in March 2017.
The marijuana industry is expected to grow to $7 billion annually by 2020, and BDS Analytics predicts California will bring in up to $1.4 billion from taxes on recreational marijuana purchases.
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