Recreational marijuana now legal in California

California welcomed the new year with legal sales of recreational marijuana. The state has issued only about 100 licenses to marijuana-related businesses so far, so demand was high and lines were long at dispensaries that opened Monday on the first day of legalized pot. The Riverside and Fresno communities have outlawed sales, and Los Angeles and San Francisco did not act soon enough for businesses there to receive licenses by New Year’s Day. The Bureau of Cannabis Control worked through the Christmas holiday to try to handle 1,400 pending license applications for retail sales, distribution, testing facilities, and other businesses, bureau spokesman Alex Traverso said. The marijuana industry is projected to bring in $1 billion annually in tax revenue for California within several years. The nation’s most populous state joins a growing list of others, and the nation’s capital, where so-called recreational marijuana is permitted even though the federal government continues to classify it as a controlled substance.