Well, it has finally happened folks. One state has finally volunteered to be the experiment for the first legalization of recreational use of marijuana.

Since Jan.1, citizens of Colorado and Washington, who are 21 or older, are now able to buy marijuana for medical and recreational use.

So, how are the two states holding up after this new law? I would say they’re doing better than any other state in the U.S. with marijuana sales surpassing $1 million on the first day, according to an article from the Huffington Post.

It’s not rocket science that the legalization of marijuana would clearly improve California’s economy, as well as the economy of the U.S. as a whole. Maybe politicians are finally getting it right after years and years of making cannabis illegal.

The marijuana industry is predicted to grow to $2.3 billion in 2014 in the U.S., and in five years is predicted to expand into a $10 billion industry, according to a different article from the Huffington Post.

One argument that political opponents express is that the legalization of marijuana will lead to addiction in teens and adults.

Oh, and by the way, 46.6 million Americans are addicted to smoking cigarettes, which harms every single organ of the body, according to the American Lung Association. Did that ever stop the government from making the selling of tobacco legal? No. So why should that stop them from making a harmless leaf legal?

Even if they did become addicted to weed, that means they would be buying it on a regular basis, which would increase pot sales even more. And how is that a bad thing again?

Another fear is that the government won’t be able to regulate the sale of marijuana. How long has the U.S. government been regulating alcohol without problems? Oh, I’m just so worried that it’s going to be too hard for the government to regulate an even less harmful and less addictive substance than alcohol.

Imagine if California, one of the biggest pot-smoking societies, legalized the recreational sale and use of marijuana. Not only would the state make billions off of revenue to support our economy, but it would be all around safer for society to consume than alcohol.

You don’t have to be a stoner to support the legalization of marijuana. If you do your homework and realize the benefits it has for our country instead of just coming up with excuses to make it illegal, you might just find that you can benefit from it as well.