Since passage of the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act in California (“MCRSA”), our California marijuana business attorneys have been getting calls nearly non-stop regarding what folks can do now to have a medical marijuana business later in the Golden State.

When David Sparer arrived at his Airbnb in Venice, Italy, he encountered an unsurmountable challenge: the spiral staircase. He was debilitated by his arthritis. His friend, the founder of Los Angeles–based cannabis company the Clear, gave him some cannabidiol (CBD) to put under his tongue and on his feet. The next day, Sparer toured all around the city with less pain than he’d had in 10 years on Naproxen, a powerful anti-inflammatory that significantly damaged his liver. 

He was converted to the powers of CBD.

The marijuana industry gets a lot of headlines because of the large dollar figures involved. This year Colorado alone is on its way to selling more than one billion (with a B!) dollars worth of marijuana. Marijuana sales figures are climbing in Washington, and with the exception of the recent slowdown in Oregon due to marijuana testing issues, Oregon’s sales have grown steadily too. Alaska just started marijuana sales, and eventually the ‘2016 class’ of legalization states will start sales.

Marijuana legalization is now a foregone conclusion. Over half of U.S. states have enacted laws that have legalized marijuana for recreational or medical use. That means American capitalism has kicked into high gear, with estimates that the domestic legal cannabis market will reach $50 billion by 2026, according to Bloomberg.

James Slatic isn't a drug dealer. The owner of Med-West Distributors in San Diego was a successful entrepreneur in California's legalized medical marijuana industry, refining cannabis extractions and providing them to nine local dispensaries. His business was housed in a 14,000-square-foot industrial property that the company owned and which the city had inspected; he says his workers had employer-matched 401(k) retirement accounts and health insurance, and that he spent thousands of dollars to have his products tested by a city-licensed lab.

When voters in California passed Proposition 64 they not only created a legal and regulated cannabis market, but also paved the way for low-level cannabis-related crimes to be expunged from criminal records and for the possible release of individuals incarcerated for drug crimes.

The number of individuals potentially affected by this legislation is unknown, but some reports indicate thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Californians could petition for relief.

Jason Elsasser surveys his two-acre patch of windswept sand outside the California town of Desert Hot Springs, and sees a fortune. “This whole area back here,” he says, pointing to a blank desert plot dotted with rocks and shrubs, “is going to be a 22,000-sq ft, state-of-the-art greenhouse that will produce 6,000lbs of high-quality cannabis per year, minimum.”

Mr Elsasser, a 47-year-old property developer-turned-pot magnate, plans to have his cannabis cultivation business up and running by 2018. “This little building is going to be the first stand-alone cannabis extraction facility in Southern California,” he says, referring to the only structure currently standing on the property, an empty metal barn that once housed a welding shop.

Legalization of recreational use of marijuana could mean a tax bonanza for California with tax collectors already taking the first steps toward getting a handle on the emerging industry.

The California Board of Equalization approved a proposal Tuesday to ask for funds to hire staff in anticipation of 2018 when legalization of recreational use kicks in after California voters decided Nov. 8 to approve Proposition 64. As many as 25,000 cultivators are expected to register and begin paying taxes. The board expects to need $20 million by 2021 to support a staff of 114.

About a month ago, on an unseasonably warm Wednesday evening in the courtyard of the Oakland Museum, partygoers in blazers and floor-length gowns mingled, sipping champagne and martinis. A DJ spun remixes on a neon-lit stage. A photographer snapped photos. Tiki torches and triple-decker towers of appetizers helped set the mood.

It looked like any fancy A-list event, save for the cloud of marijuana smoke hovering over a cordoned off area, the most crowded section of the party. Revelers passed joints back and forth, sucked on vape pens, and lined up for their turn at the dabbing bar (dabbing, a newly popularized way to consume marijuana, involves inhaling heated cannabis concentrates). It’s a fitting way to celebrate the 10th birthday of the country’s biggest dispensary.