Report says Sacramento Could Earn Billions From Legalized Pot

A study released on Monday showed that California’s state capital region could generate $4.2 billion in business. Moreover, it could bring in 20,000 jobs if it becomes a center for legalized marijuana industry. Researchers released the study weeks before voters agreed whether to permit recreational use of the drug.

Truth Enterprises, a cannabis investment company, commissioned the study from the University of the Pacific in Stockton. The company is one of several businesses relying on voters to legalize pot next month.

“The Sacramento region should be to cannabis what Detroit is to automobiles in terms of both a center for innovation as well as production,” said Truth Enterprises’ managing partner Daniel Conway. “This region has the ability to be to cannabis what Napa and Sonoma are to wine.”

If local leaders decide to restrict the type and number of marijuana businesses, legalization would bring as few as 1,600 jobs, the study showed. It would also generate about $322 million in profits, wages and other economic effects.

Polls suggest voters in the most populous US state are likely to legalize marijuana on November 8. This would immediately create a huge marketplace, making California the fifth state to allow recreational pot use.

Sacramento’s proximity to farmlands and agricultural processing facilities make it a good choice for focusing some of the business in the area. Moreover, tourist destinations like Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley as well as population hubs such as the San Francisco Bay Area are nearby.

Political and local business leaders for a long time have sought for ways to revive the slightly faded feel of the Sacramento area. You can still find empty storefronts tarnish numerous shopping centers and deserted houses with boarded-up windows regardless of almost a decade of slow recovery from the Great Recession.

Downtown starts an enormous makeover as plans for several new shops and restaurants are around a new arena for the NBA Kings are acted on. Further, the restaurant scene is growing and the city is close to winning a major league soccer franchise.

Job opportunities too many to disregard

Chief executive officer of the Sacramento Region Business Association Joshua Woods said that the entire Sacramento business community is looking at it with different eyes today. With this many jobs at stake, you can’t ignore it, he added.

Woods said that the University of the Pacific study presents the first hard look at the possible economic impact of the marijuana business on the Sacramento region. However, that does not mean his group or other political and business leaders are prepared to make the area a hub.

For that to happen, policymakers would need to be convinced that an active marijuana growing and processing industry would not also be an attraction for addiction, crime and other problems.

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