Desert Hot Springs — Monday was the first day that marijuana could be bought and sold legally in California, and store owner Nicole Salisbury’s stocks of pot edibles are already running low. The phone has been ringing nonstop for weeks with people from other states expressing an interest in sampling her wares. "I’m so excited but I’m also a little bit nervous," said Salisbury, who has been in the marijuana business for a decade and opened Green Pearl Organics as a medical dispensary two years ago. "For the first time, I feel comfortable telling people that I own a marijuana shop." Eight states as well as the capital Washington have already legalised recreational use of the drug, though it remains outlawed at the federal level. But California’s sheer size — its roughly 40-million people make it the US’s most populous state — as well as its booming economy mean it is expected to be the world’s largest market for the green flowering plant. California became a pioneer when it legalised ...

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