PUEBLO WEST — January 1, 2024, marked 10 years since the recreational sale of marijuana was legalized in Colorado. James Baca, Sales and Operations Manager of Rocky Mountain Blaze remembers exactly where he was that day: in line to buy pot.
"Yeah, the line was out the door, there was a good wait," he said. "...it even went out of the parking lot!"
After first starting out on the medicinal side of the business, Baca was happy to move to sales of both medicinal and recreational weed. He says his customers have remained steady since then.
"We've always had a pretty good customer base, sales do fluctuate. I've always compared it to gas prices," said Baca.
The Colorado Department of Revenue reports that since 2014, the state has collected more than $2.5 billion from marijuana sales revenue. That money goes towards schools, back to local governments, and research.
"We fund a range of studies covering things from health and agriculture," said Jeff Smith. He is a professor of Biology for CSU Pueblo and a member of the Institute of Cannabis Research.
As we've reported, the Institute of Cannabis Research receives funding from the Marijuana Cash Sales Tax. With this, they're able to fund several unbiased research projects aimed at understanding the drawbacks and potential positives of marijuana.
"As the stance for cannabis within the country is changing, the needs for research are changing as well," says ICR President Chad Kinney.
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