Pot Economics: Who Stands to Profit if Marijuana Is Legalized?
In late March, California Secretary of State Deborah Bowen set off a flurry of flapping jaws among the punditocracy when she announced that a marijuana legalization measure would be on the state’s November ballot. The ensuing discussion covered a range of topics from medicine to morality, consumption to consequences, but few pundits considered the economics of California’s move. There is a huge market for marijuana; while it’s impossible to determine how many Americans smoke the demon weed, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws reports that there were almost 850,000 marijuana arrests in 2008. While staggering, this number represents only a small fraction of America’s marijuana consumers. With a potential market of millions, decriminalization of marijuana could open the door to a vast, largely-untapped market for smoking paraphernalia, accessories, and other lifestyle accoutrements. The Pot Portfolio If California’s legalization initiative passes, the first benefici
