If recreational marijuana is legalized in California on November 8th, there’s the potential for a large industry in the 7-county Sacramento region, that includes Nevada County. UOP’s Center for Business and Policy Research estimates that are around 250-thousand marijuana smokers in the region, based on surveys. Executive Director Jeffrey Michael says the annual economic impact ranges from hundreds of million of dollars to as much as 4-billion dollars. He says as many as 20,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created…

click to listen to Jeffrey Michael

But Michael says if the retail industry grows only a little beyond the current medical trade, job creation could be as low as around 1600, with a financial benefit estimated at around 386-million dollars…

click to listen to Jeffrey Michael

The report says centering more marijuana-related businesses in the Sacramento region would take advantage of the area’s proximity to farmland and agricultural processing facilities, as well as the large populations in the Bay Area and tourist centers, such as Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley.