I thought this piece on Vox was pretty clear-eyed about the economic impact of legalized marijuana; it's skeptical about the value of the pot startup market (its author is a legalization advocate, as am I).<p><a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/4/16/5620322/how-legalized-pot-would-change-america" rel="nofollow">http://www.vox.com/2014/4/16/5620322/how-legalized-pot-would...</a>
Paul Graham talks about people who "live in the future" -- in a specific area of their lives, they see clearly that some change is coming long before everyone else catches on. It seems the trend towards legalization of marijuana is one such area -- it probably is one of the next gold rushes. (In my opinion, 2 other such areas are virtual reality and the Rust programming language).
Tranzbyte's new Zazzz marijuana vending machine looks pretty sweet though! I think it has the potential for countless uses, far beyond the cannabis industry.<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/14/pot-vending-machine/7704059/" rel="nofollow">http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/14/pot-vending-ma...</a>
I've started a pot delivery system where you can select your delivery location via a smart-phone app; Doober. Like Uber - but for Pot - PM for details!
I've spoken with people who work for the state of Oregon.... state employees who are working on the software infrastructure for recreational marijuana dealers. Licensing, taxing, etc. It's basically a scaled up version of the current system of medical growers/distributors but tailored for recreational use.<p>That's how confident they are legalization is coming in the next few years.
"Defying projections, crime has dropped since the law went into effect January 1, and the flow of new tax revenue, more than $2 million a month, is on par with the state’s haul from alcohol taxes. Is this what the pot-friendly future of America looks like?"<p>It sounds like all rainbows and unicorns right? Well, not exactly. . .<p>"Marijuana is by far the No. 1 cause of student expulsions from Colorado public schools" - <a href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/more-younger-students-bringing-marijuana-to-schools-around-colorado-investigators-claim" rel="nofollow">http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/more-younger...</a><p>"Colo. kids getting into parents' pot-laced goodies" - <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/02/marijuana-pot-edibles-colorado/7154651/" rel="nofollow">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/02/marijua...</a><p>"Colorado News: Pot problems in Colorado schools increase with legalization" - <a href="http://www.summitdaily.com/news/marijuana/8877953-113/marijuana-schools-colorado-kids" rel="nofollow">http://www.summitdaily.com/news/marijuana/8877953-113/mariju...</a><p>"Harmless pot? New marijuana study shows brain damage in those 18-25" - <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865601141/Harmless-pot-New-marijuana-study-shows-brain-damage-in-those-18-25.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865601141/Harmless-pot-Ne...</a><p>Yeah the tax benefits are great for the state, but there's going to be a lot of unintended consequences. Not sure I'd want my kids getting exposed to this at a young age.<p>EDIT: I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Downvotes for a one article and nobody presenting any fear of their kids being involved with pot at an early age.<p>I will simply leave with you a family friends comment to me who's been a drug counsellor for 25 years, "In my 25 years of practice, all of my patients who came to me seeking help with their addictions, they all had one thing in common - they all started with marijuana."