A report released by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis found that marijuana sales along the Idaho state line are 420% higher than the statewide average. Idaho has three border states with legalized marijuana, including Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. Despite its legal status, Idaho residents are willing to drive out of state to stock up.
Marijuana sales along the Washington state border with Idaho are also much higher than it is along with Oregon or Canada. Around 75% of Oregon sales and about 35% of Washington state sales were in counties along the Idaho border.
“The sales in counties along the Idaho border were much stronger than I anticipated,” analyzer Josh Lehner said. “Obviously recreational marijuana is not legal in Idaho, but even after throwing the data into a rough border tax model that accounts for incomes, number of retailers, tax rates and the like, there remains a huge border effect.”
The Idaho Statesman reported that advocates for legalizing medical marijuana have begun collecting signatures to get an initiative on the general election ballot.
It’s only a matter of time until the Idaho state politicians decide to cash in on all those tax dollars.
There are currently only 17 US states that haven’t legalised medical marijuana:
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Among the list of predominately Republican states to be voting on “going green” this fall are Mississippi, South Dakota, Missouri, Arizona, and Nebraska according to Fool.com.