The day of legalized marijuana is finally arriving in Colorado this January 1st to the extreme delight of those on both sides of the business transaction.

Happy prospective purchasers of pot are expected to line up, and even camp out, outside shops which will be open for business as early as 8am selling their marijuana wares. Some shop owners, like Toni Fox, owner of 3D Cannibis Center in Denver, will be putting up canopy tents, heaters and a food truck with donuts and cakes to keep the waiting patrons warm and fed.

Fox has been selling medical marijuana since 2010, bringing in about $30,000 a month as a dispensary. Under the liberalized law she expects sales to explode to a minimum of $250,000 per month, giving her a natural high which smoking dope would be hard-pressed to match.

“We’ll have people out the door,” Fox, 42, a Salida resident, said. “It’s going to be a very festive atmosphere. We all feel like we’re walking on sunshine right now.”

Colorado is the first state in the nation to sell marijuana with no strings attached other than having the money to pay for the dope and being at least 21 years old. Washington will be joining Colorado as the second state to legalize marijuana use and sales, starting around June.

Analysts predict that Colorado will realize close to $580 million in combined wholesale and retail pot sales, yielding $67 million in tax revenues. Wholesale deals will be taxed at 15 percent, financing new school construction, and retail sales will tax at a 10 percent rate funding the marijuana industry’s bureaucratic needs.