California’s marijuana legalization issue could mean big business; clashes with federal law

The future of medical marijuana and the legalization of marijuana remain uncertain. But corporations are already jumping on the bandwagon and cities are watching what could become a billion dollar industry.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys reported last week on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog that the City of Oakland moved to approve four huge, industrial growing operations which could bring in millions in tax revenue, billions in wages, and thousands of jobs.

MSNBC reports it could be the beginning of marijuana’s industrial age. Having failed to draw high-tech jobs, Oakland could be the Silicon Valley of marijuana. Though not on the scope of Microsoft, but more in line with a Trader Joe’s, a California discount chain best known for $2 bottles of Charles Shaw wine — known affectionately as Two Buck Chuck.

“The new Two Buck Chuck will be $40 an ounce pot,” said Jeff Wilcox, who pushed Oakland to move toward an industrial growing operation in anticipation of marijuana’s eventual legalization. Wilcox says small growers could produce high-end product, while he supplies the masses with a clean, controlled, great-value product.

Of course there are all kinds of problems with this scenario. Beginning with the fact that Oakland’s own city attorney warned city leaders that such growing operations remain illegal under both state and federal law. And, as our Los Angeles marijuana lawyers reported last week, the challenges of marijuana legalization could reach a boiling point if cheap California pot threatens to fuel the illegal marijuana markets throughout the United States and Canada.

Still, many are betting that passage of California’s Proposition 19, which could legalize marijuana in November, will signal the beginning of a the nation’s move toward the drug’s eventual legalization in the rest of the country.

The CANNABIS LAW GROUP is a law firm dedicated to the rights of medical marijuana patients, collectives and growers and has built a reputation for high-powered, aggressive legal representation of the medical marijuana industry in Southern California. Call 949-375-4734 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.