COLORADO: Several states are considering legalizing recreational marijuana, but in Colorado where recreational pot is now legal, Gov. John Hickenlooper thinks marijuana sales will bring in more than $600 million a year, with $134 million in taxes.
One small town, Garden City, Colo., is already seeing a windfall.
A four-by-five block, one-stoplight town, Garden City now knows something about cashing in on temptation. It’s the only town in a county of 4,000 square miles where recreational pot sales are legal.
Erica Pilch owns Cloud 9 where the staff can barely keep up. Pilch said, “We get (customers) from all over everywhere. And most — you know, there’s people that travel two hours to come here. … We are an island.”
The city was started when Prohibition ended in 1933. Surrounding Weld County and its cities stayed dry, so a local entrepreneur incorporated the tiny town, issued liquor licenses, and Garden City enjoyed an 80-proof boom that lasted until the laws changed in the late 1960s.