GreenWave Advisors, an industry research firm that has been tracking retail sales of marijuana in the states where recreational use is legal, have predicted that the legal pot industry could grow to $35 billion by 2020 if all 50 states legalized it. In Washington, marijuana revenue grew from $2 million for the first month of legalization to $31.9 million this last June, netting a total of $180 million in the past 12 months. Colorado almost doubled this amount, raking in a total of $305 million in weed revenue in 2014.

Statewide recreational legalization in California is up for vote on next year’s ballot, and analysts think that if the initiative passes, it would serve as a tipping point that would lead the rest of the country toward full legalization. California “is a tremendous market, with its proximity to Washington and Colorado,” said Steve Gormley of OSL Holdings, a consumer advocacy company. “There is an advantage from a revenue standpoint of legalizing recreational, and we will start to see other states moving rapidly in the same direction.”

“This is an industry that is allowing people to come in and start businesses that they otherwise might not have been able to start,” said Leslie Bocskor of cannabis consulting firm Electrum Partners. “The events and pressures—pressure for regulation of markets, federal legality versus state legality—create a unique business environment never seen before.” Although some investors are still concerned about the fact that the drug is still federally prohibited, analysts expect that the market will continue to grow. “It will eventually plateau, but we still have a few years of growth,” Bocskor said. “Growth begets growth.”

Got the drop at Mass Appeal . . .