A new report out of Colorado has shed light on the success of legal marijuana in the Rocky Mountain state in a way which should appeal to Virginia lawmakers.



A new report out of Colorado has shed light on the success of legal marijuana in the Rocky Mountain state in a way which should appeal to Virginia lawmakers.

According to the Denver Post, a new study released by the Colorado Tourism Office showed almost half of all people who visited the state came for the green and their multi-million dollar ad campaign for state tourism didn’t mention weed once:

While the state’s “Come to Life” ad campaign is certainly successful, surveys in October and November of potential summertime visitors who were exposed to the state’s tourism ads revealed that the marijuana laws influenced vacation decisions nearly 49 percent of the time.

“I think it is rearing its head as a significant travel and tourism amenity for visitors coming to Colorado,” said Al White, who retired as boss of the Colorado Tourism Office in August and now serves on the board of a cannabis tourism company.

That means those millions spent on weed-free tourism ads had little impact on half the people who visited the state – not the best return on investment.

Here in Virginia, just last year, we passed the first pro-pot legislation since 1979 when the state actually legalized it for medical purposes. Yes, medical pot has been legal in the Commonwealth for more than 3 decades, but they never passed laws allowing for dispensaries so it never really happened.

But medical pot, specifically cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil, was made legal last year, giving those in possession of the substance, often prescribed to folks with conditions like epilepsy, immunity from prosecution if they have a “valid written certification issued by a practitioner of medicine or osteopathy.”

So we might be going the incremental rout, which is cool and all, but full recreational legalization could be a huge game changer, and fit Governor McAuliffe’s mantra about the importance tourism has in the Commonwealth.

“The tourism industry is one of the five largest industries in Virginia – an economic engine that continues to add jobs and generate growth in all corners of the Commonwealth,” said McAuliffe in a press release announcing $22.4 billion in tourism income in 2014

Meanwhile, Colorado is pulling in millions a month in new revenue from legal weed, with most of that income going straight into their state school system.

“Promoting tourism in the Commonwealth is a key component of my administration’s efforts to build a new Virginia economy,” said McAuliffe in that same release, and I couldn’t think of a newer economic engine in Virginia than pot.

Keep in mind the income generated from weed, $150 million to date as of September this year, in CO is probably low because of the ease of access in the surrounding states.



Image via NORML

Take a look at the map above and notice the cluster of legalization states in the Pacific North West. All you’ve got on the East Coast is DC’s legalization which lacks infrastructure for recreational use.

We could be the pot capital of the East Coast, bring in new tourism dollars, and fund our schools at the same time.

How does that sound to you all? Cause it sounds pretty good to me, man.