Stacking Ws …

Many months ago, Colorado really didn't have any idea what it was doing, because legalizing weed hadn't yet been done before on a state level. It was like running into an antique store completely blind, with the federal government waiting for just one crash of fallen glass to move in and ruin the entire operation. 

But the project has been a wild success and still navigates the obstacles with relative ease. Case in point: Colorado just posted its best selling month on record for legal marijuana sales. In July 2016, Colorado racked up nearly $122.7 million, according to the Denver Post.

The newly minted record topples the previous one by $5.3 million (or roughly 2,650 lbs. of weed, if that denomination is easier to grasp for you — though concentrates, edibles and whatever else are all factored into recreational and medicinal sales). This past April, which held the record before July, sold over $117.4 million worth of products, with medical sales accounting for $40.8 million and recreational sales pulling in $76.6 million. 

No one really knows why the perpetual growth is happening, but it could very well be somewhat attributed to a new rule stating tourists can buy up to an ounce per day — travelers were stuck before only buying a quarter-ounce per person, per day. Or people in the state were just out and about, enjoying what it is that's offered without a taboo distinction.

“That’s when I think more people — Colorado residents plus tourists — people are just out and about,” says Adam Orens, a managing director of Denver-based BBC Research & Consulting and founding partner of the Marijuana Policy Group to the Denver Post. “There are backyard parties, it’s events of all different kinds, concerts, festivals. I believe it drives more people to consume more alcohol and marijuana.”

Whatever it is, sales are on track to demolish a billion-dollar year, generating hundreds of millions to state-funded entities where there was none before. 

Sometimes going in blind is the best way to go.