Illinois’s Legal Pot Sales Reach $3.2 Million on First Day (1)

Illinois’ first day of recreational cannabis reached almost $3.2 million in sales with 77,128 transactions, according to state officials.

Coming off a dismal yearfor the industry, the launch of adult-use sales in Illinois is considered a harbinger of better things to come in 2020. The state is the sixth most populous in the U.S., is surrounded by potential customers in states where sales are still illegal, and will likely pressure others to follow suit.

A Weed Maps truck sits near the Cresco Labs Sunnyside* Lakeview dispensary as recreational marijuana sales begin in Chicago on Jan. 1.

Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

“The idea of a domino effect should not be discounted,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Pablo Zuanic said in a note published Thursday.

Illinois is the ...