Colorado is known for having many recreational activities, hiking, skiing, biking. And now, weed.

In Breckenridge, the weed emblazed T shirt with the snarky saying is front and center in most shop windows. Rocky Mountain high is legal and back in style. The state is booming.

While known to dabble, weed is not my favorite inebriant of choice. I have some very strong Irish stock which moves me more in the direction of wine, whiskey, and scotch.

Last week I had my hair cut in Breckenridge by a young woman who, while making small talk, asked what I had done so far in Colorado. I talked of the awesome hiking, the delicious dining and the dispensaries.

“You went to the dispensaries?” she asked. “That’s so cute.”

Cute? Excuse me?! In 1973 I was living in dorm rooms that were a grey haze much of the time. Now I’m not saying that was (always) a good thing. But it was a typical thing to do.

Youth is a time for experimenting, sex, drugs (rock and roll) and, if managed, experimentation is an important part of growing up.

(Now, before you get all Nancy Reagan on me, YES, I know pot and drugs can be a problem. I have experienced it directly in my family. It can be a problem just like alcohol.)

And as a traveler I have tried kava in Tonga, mescal in the Yucatan and (Ron) betel nuts in Burma. So, weed in Colorado? Why not.

To me, the most fun thing about weed was shopping for it. Paranoia free purchasing.

We were greeted at the door by security. This person’s job is to make sure there are only as many people in the dispensary as there are Bud Masters. Bud Master? That’s the pot equivalent of a wine sommelier.

The Organix dispensary was busy, so we needed to wait for a few moments in the comfortable waiting area that, but for the ads for Orange-Chem and Grease-ball, reminded us of the orthodontist’s office where much of our time was spent years ago.

A small group left, the door to the dispensary was unlocked and we entered. The space was open and sparse. Virtually everything in the dispensary was behind glass cases and in cabinets on the walls behind the Bud Masters. Only the odd T-shirt and weed emblazoned socks were hanging on familiar display racks where customers could handle the merchandise. Everything else was not accessible without help.

Vape pens, pipes, papers, tincture, edibles, and good old fashioned smoke-able weed was all on locked display.

We were greeted by our young, twenty-something, tattooed Bud Master. “How can I help?” she asked.

The friends I was with had downloaded the Leafly app onto their phones and knew exactly what they wanted. One eighth of Dairy Queen. D0es Dairy Queen know their name is on a strain of weed? Probably not. But maybe so…

And isn’t is interesting they don’t mind? Munchies, anyone?

The place was immaculate. The staff professional, their dreads clean and colorful. Even the dispensary dog was clean and well behaved.

We left $80 lighter, $15 of which had gone to the State of Colorado, the City of Breckenridge, and the county of Summit.

According to an article in the Washington Post (February 2015), the weed business is a $700 million dollar industry according to the Post’s analysis of recently-released tax data from the Colorado Department of Revenue.

“In 2014, Colorado retailers sold $386 million of medical marijuana and $313 million for purely recreational purposes. The two segments of the market generated $63 million in tax revenue, with an additional $13 million collected in licenses and fees”, reported The Post.

The economic impact of the marijuana industry is actually even greater, as the figures above don’t include retail sales of related pot products, vapes, pipes, T shirts, nor do they account for increased tourist traffic.

One afternoon while we sat watching the Blue River roar past full of newly melted spring snow in a Breckenridge park, we were approached by an earnest young man.

Would we agree to participate in a short survey? Um, sure.

It was a twenty question survey. The first ten were about basic tourist services. The last ten were about how much legalized weed influenced our decision to come to Breckenridge. Clearly, marketers want to know.

Now with an entire year of data behind them, Colorado has a clearer picture of the impact of the marijuana market. Total marijuana tax revenues are expected to climb to $94 million by 2016. This means a $1 billion dollar retail weed market. That’s not chump change.

And, few of the dire consequences some feared have occurred.

According to The Post, “Fatal car accidents in the state are flat, and well below the past-decade average (not terribly surprising, considering stoned drivers are considerably safer than drunk ones). Crime is down in Denver and the surrounding area.”

In the good old, USA, capitalism rules. And with money like that on the table you can bet your Dairy Queen that other states are paying close attention.