Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold
Page: 4A
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)

NEW ERA FOR RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA BUSINESSES

Only six months old, Colorado's recreational marijuana industry 
starts a transformation Tuesday that could add hundreds of new pot 
businesses to the state and reconfigure the market's architecture.

Previously, only owners of existing medical marijuana shops could 
apply to open recreational stores, and all businesses had to be 
generalists, growing the pot that they sold. The model matches what 
is required of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Starting Tuesday, newcomers to the industry can apply for 
recreational marijuana business licenses. What's more, when these new 
businesses begin opening in October, all recreational marijuana 
companies will be allowed to specialize - as wholesale growers 
without a storefront, for instance, or as stand-alone stores that 
don't grow their supply. The only requirement is that owners be 
Colorado residents.

"We are going into uncharted territory," said Sam Kamin, a University 
of Denver law professor who has tracked developments in Colorado's 
marijuana industry. "It's something that hasn't happened in medical 
(marijuana), and it hasn't happened in recreational."

How the new rules will ultimately impact the industry, though, is unclear.

As of mid-June, 292 people had filed optional notices with the state 
saying that they planned to apply for a recreational marijuana 
business license starting July 1. The notices don't say how many of 
the would-be business owners want to open stores versus cultivation companies.

It also remains to be seen where those businesses will all go. Many 
cities - including the state's second-largest, Colorado Springs-still 
have bans on recreational marijuana businesses. Denver, home to the 
majority of recreational stores in Colorado, has a moratorium on 
applications from newcomers until 2016.

Aurora, which currently has no marijuana stores, will for the first 
time accept applications for recreational shops starting Tuesday. But 
it has capped the number of stores in the city at 24.

Mike Elliott, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, 
said zoning restrictions and real estate crunches will further 
squeeze the space that new businesses can go. "It's tough to know how 
many people are really going to apply," Elliott said. "Running a 
marijuana business is much, much more difficult than it might 
initially appear."

Elliott said it's also uncertain whether the market has room for new 
recreational stores, which have seen lower-than-expected demand.

Of the more than $200 million in sales at all Colorado marijuana 
stores during the first four months of the year, two-thirds of it has 
been at medical marijuana dispensaries.

"Right now," Elliott said, "we don't really know what the market can bear."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom