Weed sales in Illinois top $3 million on day one of legalization

Weed sales in Illinois topped $3 million on New Year’s Day, the first day recreational marijuana sales were legal, The Chicago Tribune reported. 

The $3.2 million in sales was across 37 dispensaries that started selling recreational weed Wednesday in Illinois, including nine in Chicago, according to the Tribune. 

Illinois is the 11th state to legalize recreational weed. Residents may possess up to 30 grams of the dried flower, five grams of cannabis concentrate and 500 milligrams of THC in edibles; nonresidents may possess half as much. 

The first day sales in Illinois were one of the strongest of any of the states to legalize the drug. Oregon, which legalized the substance in 2015, had a comparable first-day performance also bringing in $3.2 million in sales, the Tribune reported. 

Some dispensaries in Illinois were even turning customers away on Wednesday, the Tribune reported. 

Michigan, the only other Midwestern state to legalize weed, started allowing recreational sales last month, reportedly generating $221,000 in sales on the first day from three dispensaries. 

Recreational cannabis is also fully legal in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Vermont.