The View | A drink, sir? And a spliff to go with it?

Some high times have emerged following the recent polls in the United States and I’m not talking about the feeling of intoxication surging through the veins of those who feel it is once again safe to say really crude things about race or sex or about minorities, not forgetting the half of the population that country is not male.

I’m talking about the decision of citizens in California, Maine Massachusetts and Nevada who, while choosing the next president, also voted to legalise the sale of marijuana.

As a result around half of America’s population will have access to legitimate supplies of the weed when taking account of existing laws in other states that allow the sale of marijuana for recreational or medical use.

Opinion polls show that support for legislation is strong elsewhere so it is only a matter of time before smartly designed packs of marijuana will be on shop shelves all over the place.

The legal US market for cannabis is now reckoned to be worth a not-so-modest US$6 billion per year, but this is expected to rise nine fold to $50 billion by 2026, according to the market research group Cowen.

No wonder the big corporates are getting interested, not least among them are alcohol sellers who fear that the rise of the weed will take a toll on their drinks business.