Cannabis: The New Green That's Filling State Coffers

This month, Colorado will deposit its one billionth dollar of tax revenue from cannabis— generated from an assortment of licenses, taxes, and fees. Seven years ago Colorado started a trend, voting to allow recreational cannabis use. Today one in five Americans live in a state with recreational cannabis and 47 states allow medical or recreational use. Similarly, a generation ago states allowed another previously prohibited business to exist: gambling. But the cannabis and gambling industries face very different banking laws, creating a new reefer madness.