Medical Marijuana Zone

CHICAGO – Illinois’ first day of legal recreational marijuana generated nearly $3.2 million in sales, state officials announced Thursday.

There were 77, 128 transactions on New Year’s Day, when the law legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes took effect, according to Toi Hutchinson, senior adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on cannabis control.

Dispensaries reported long lines the first day of sales and expected them to continue through the weekend.

“Those lines actually show there’s an incredible opportunity to grow this industry,″ Hutchinson told reporters Thursday in Chicago. “There’s new room for new people to come in.”

By comparison, neighboring Michigan, which made recreational marijuana legal starting Dec. 1, generated $3.1 million in the first two weeks of sales. First-day sales in Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, were over $1 million on Jan. 1, 2014.