In 2016, California became the sixth US state to legalize recreational marijuana. The first legal sales in the state took place in 2018, and in one year, $2.5 billion worth of cannabis was sold.
Although $2.5 billion is nothing to scoff at, it was actually less than California sold one year earlier, when only medical cannabis was legal, according to The New York Times.
As it turns out, The Times reported, California has a massive surplus of cannabis, and is having trouble convincing consumers to buy it legally instead of from the black market.
Source: The New York Times