Marijuana Chaos in California

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Beginning on Monday, January 1, 2018, marijuana sales for recreational purposes will be legal in California. Personally, I do not use marijuana and have no plans to begin, but the situation is expected to create a great deal of confusion and chaos in California. While it will be legal in California, it is still illegal under Federal law. Attorney General Sessions has threatened to aggressively pursue marijuana enforcement, although everyone is uncertain exactly what that means. Federal border agents will continue to arrest people caught crossing the border with marijuana, even in small amounts. California police will no longer arrest people with small amounts of marijuana, but will arrest private, unlicensed dealers who are in possession of a large amount of marijuana. No marijuana dispensaries for recreational use have been set up yet in the entire city of Los Angeles. It will be at least several weeks before one is open. Because it is still against Federal law, no banks will accept money from legal marijuana dispensaries. They must hoard and hide cash, because there are no banks where they can deposit it. In order for the dispensaries to pay taxes, Brinks style trucks will make scheduled appointments, accompanied by tax collectors. There is no portable road test which will allow police officers to determine if someone is driving under the influence of marijuana. They have to use their best judgement and take people into the station for a more definitive determination. The amount of allowable marijuana in someone's system has not been determined because the amount needed to be intoxicated varies from person to person ... depending on whether they are a "newbie" or a "habitual user." All of this uncertainty is creating chaos ... although the large tax revenue is expected to be a nice windfall for the state!