COLORADO MAKES OVER $1 MILLION ON FIRST DAY OF LEGALIZED RECREATIONAL WEED SALES

Colorado rang in the new year by clearing over $1 million in regulated marijuana sales on the first day dispensaries were open for business.

Smokers waited in line for hours in freezing weather just to be the first to legally purchase the plant that has been at the center of controversy since the inception of the ‘War on Drugs’ in the 1980s.

“It’s a huge deal for me,” Andre Barr told 9 News, “to be part of the legal weed experiment. This wait is nothing.”

Twenty-four shops opened on Wednesday, most of them in the Denver area, and according to Barbara Brohl, head of the Department of Revenue’s marijuana oversight division, “everything's gone pretty smoothly.”

The only potential problem is price inflation. High-quality marijuana that, on Tuesday, could only be sold to medical marijuana patients for $25 per one eighth of an ounce, was being sold on Wednesday to recreational users for $75 for the same amount.

Medical marijuana advocates hope that such inflation is just a temporary measure by pot shops to deal with the increased demand that followed legalization.