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World’s First Marijuana Retail License Issued In Colorado Recreational pot shops are expected to open their doors for the first time in history on January 1, 2014. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/RomboStudio November 22, 2013 | The world’s first-ever marijuana retail license has been issued in Central City, Colorado this week, according to the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). The recipient of the license, ‘Annie’s’, a dispensary operating as a medical marijuana center, is yet to receive its state license. Nonetheless, businesses in localities across Colorado are scheduled to begin selling pot to adults beginning January 1, 2014. MPP's Mason Tvert, who co-directed the successful campaign, welcomed the historic move: “Colorado is moving forward and leaving marijuana prohibition behind. For the first time in history, those who sell marijuana are receiving licenses from the state instead of rap sheets. Marijuana will be sold to adults by legitimate, taxpaying businesses instead of drug cartels in the underground market," he said in a statement. Earlier in the month, voters approved a 25 percent tax on recreational marijuana sales in the state in which the revenue will be used to fund public school construction and regulation. "Colorado is proving to the rest of the world that marijuana can be regulated like alcohol. It will not be long before voters and lawmakers in other states decide to adopt similar policies. Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol, and it is finally starting to be treated that way," Tvert said. Of course, other countries are also making strides on legalization, most notably Uruguay, which became the first country to fully legalize marijuana this fall.