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Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is going to use the $9 million the state has collected in medical marijuana fees from registrations to help pay of CO’s $60 million deficit.

The state anticipates ending the year with 150,000 applicants for medical marijuana cards, up from 41,000 in 2009. A marijuana card costs $90 per year.

For those that say Prop 19 wouldn’t bring revenue in for the state of California, this kind of makes you look silly, doesn’t it? This $9 million in Colorado is just from people registering for medical marijuana cards. CA would be collecting those fees from patients (as they do now), plus all the other taxes and fees from new businesses and cannabis distributors that will supply recreational users.

The millions of dollars than can be made from legal marijuana – especially in a state like California with an entrenched cannabis culture – is not known. But we can surmise that it will be enough money to take some pressure off the shoulders of the people of CA who carry a monumental budget deficit.

- Joe Klare