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Medical marijuana stores are back in Fort Collins, with six opening across the city in recent weeks.
As many as 14 are slated to open after voters in the 2012 election overturned a ban on the stores. After going dark for more than a year, the businesses are working to restart grow operations and attract clients.
"I have to build it up from scratch again," said Donald Cruinkshank, 51, owner of A Kind Place on North College Avenue.
He opened his doors July 30 after paying four to five months' rent while waiting for the city's approval process. But on opening day, there was no line of customers outside.
"No rush," he said. "It's been pretty slow."
And the costs to get rolling stack up. Ken Correia, owner of Solace Meds on Smokey Street, estimates about $60,000 spent on rent, licensing and other costs.
"Major strains not only on business, but on my personal financial situation," he said. "I don't know how a lot of the guys got through it. It was definitely difficult."
The number of Larimer County residents who can legally shop in the stores is down to nearly half of its peak, with about 4,620 licensed medical-marijuana patients now living here. That is supplemented in part by visiting medical-marijuana users from elsewhere in Colorado.
But medical-marijuana vendors getting in business now could be tapping a gold mine when recreational sales begin in Colorado next year. In communities allowing recreational stores, the state is giving medical-marijuana dispensaries a head start on serving recreational users. They can begin applying Oct. 1 to serve anyone 21 and older. Any other potential business owner has to wait until July 2014 to apply, according to state regulations.
Future hazy for recreational marijuana in Fort Collins
Fort Collins city leaders are assessing the options for recreational marijuana stores and are expected to postpone any from opening until after March 2014. Loveland, Windsor, Greeley and other nearby communities already have banned the stores. Elsewhere in Colorado, such businesses could open as soon as Jan. 1.
Cruinkshank said he went through the complicated, expensive medical-marijuana process at the local and state levels because he believes in the drug's healing powers.
"I help people," he said. "I've seen people with (multiple sclerosis) get out of a chair and walk. It's out of my hands. I'm a messenger."
However, both Cruinkshank and Correia said they'd also provide recreational pot if given the option.
"I'm a businessman by heart; I would have to do that," Cruinkshank said.
Correia said that if taxes aren't high enough on recreational pot, there's no reason for people to secure doctor approval and pay the $35 annual fee to the state for the "red card" allowing them medical marijuana.
Voters in November will decide whether to tax recreational marijuana with a 15 percent excise tax and as high as a 15 percent sales tax. Fort Collins could also ask residents for a local tax in addition to sales taxes, which already apply to medical marijuana.
Meanwhile, Cruinkshank believes there could be a in Fort Collins medical-marijuana patients with more stores nearby.
"When Amendment 64 came, a lot of people let their red cards fall," he said.
'True grit'
The 14 businesses that could reopen in Fort Collins are the maximum allowed because of a cap voters approved when they overturned the ban.
When stores were forced to close in early 2012, there were 21 of them. Those remaining, Cruinkshank says, do it because they care.
"Most of us are all true grit," he said, adding that they've "jumped through every hoop of fire."
It could all be for naught if the federal government starts enforcing its marijuana laws, which continue to prohibit all marijuana sales – medical or otherwise. President Barack Obama's administration has indicated it isn't a priority to interfere with state medical-marijuana laws. But federal agencies have raided some medical-marijuana stores and arrested people.
Colorado and Washington have waited for the administration to indicate whether recreational-marijuana stores will be tolerated, but nothing substantial has come. In April, Pew Research released polling results showing 52 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization.
Cruinkshank said he's uncertain about recreational marijuana's future but expects the federal government will come to support medical marijuana once it's accepted by at least half the United States. About 20 states allow it in some form today.
For now, he's focused on working himself out of debt in the next year or two. His shelves are well-stocked, but his pot is largely from other dispensaries. He'll be making much less profit until he can start providing the product of his own grow operation.
His strains are about $180 to $225 per ounce. They include tinctures, salves and drinks, as well as a variety of strains.
Samantha McCoy, 21, drove three hours from Yuma to Fort Collins after a friend recommended A Kind Place. She bought an ounce of marijuana with a mix of strains including Cough Sunshine, Durban Poison and Bubble Kush.
She said she usually goes to Denver but wanted to try Cruinkshank's medicine.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: coloradoan.com
Author: Robert Allen
As many as 14 are slated to open after voters in the 2012 election overturned a ban on the stores. After going dark for more than a year, the businesses are working to restart grow operations and attract clients.
"I have to build it up from scratch again," said Donald Cruinkshank, 51, owner of A Kind Place on North College Avenue.
He opened his doors July 30 after paying four to five months' rent while waiting for the city's approval process. But on opening day, there was no line of customers outside.
"No rush," he said. "It's been pretty slow."
And the costs to get rolling stack up. Ken Correia, owner of Solace Meds on Smokey Street, estimates about $60,000 spent on rent, licensing and other costs.
"Major strains not only on business, but on my personal financial situation," he said. "I don't know how a lot of the guys got through it. It was definitely difficult."
The number of Larimer County residents who can legally shop in the stores is down to nearly half of its peak, with about 4,620 licensed medical-marijuana patients now living here. That is supplemented in part by visiting medical-marijuana users from elsewhere in Colorado.
But medical-marijuana vendors getting in business now could be tapping a gold mine when recreational sales begin in Colorado next year. In communities allowing recreational stores, the state is giving medical-marijuana dispensaries a head start on serving recreational users. They can begin applying Oct. 1 to serve anyone 21 and older. Any other potential business owner has to wait until July 2014 to apply, according to state regulations.
Future hazy for recreational marijuana in Fort Collins
Fort Collins city leaders are assessing the options for recreational marijuana stores and are expected to postpone any from opening until after March 2014. Loveland, Windsor, Greeley and other nearby communities already have banned the stores. Elsewhere in Colorado, such businesses could open as soon as Jan. 1.
Cruinkshank said he went through the complicated, expensive medical-marijuana process at the local and state levels because he believes in the drug's healing powers.
"I help people," he said. "I've seen people with (multiple sclerosis) get out of a chair and walk. It's out of my hands. I'm a messenger."
However, both Cruinkshank and Correia said they'd also provide recreational pot if given the option.
"I'm a businessman by heart; I would have to do that," Cruinkshank said.
Correia said that if taxes aren't high enough on recreational pot, there's no reason for people to secure doctor approval and pay the $35 annual fee to the state for the "red card" allowing them medical marijuana.
Voters in November will decide whether to tax recreational marijuana with a 15 percent excise tax and as high as a 15 percent sales tax. Fort Collins could also ask residents for a local tax in addition to sales taxes, which already apply to medical marijuana.
Meanwhile, Cruinkshank believes there could be a in Fort Collins medical-marijuana patients with more stores nearby.
"When Amendment 64 came, a lot of people let their red cards fall," he said.
'True grit'
The 14 businesses that could reopen in Fort Collins are the maximum allowed because of a cap voters approved when they overturned the ban.
When stores were forced to close in early 2012, there were 21 of them. Those remaining, Cruinkshank says, do it because they care.
"Most of us are all true grit," he said, adding that they've "jumped through every hoop of fire."
It could all be for naught if the federal government starts enforcing its marijuana laws, which continue to prohibit all marijuana sales – medical or otherwise. President Barack Obama's administration has indicated it isn't a priority to interfere with state medical-marijuana laws. But federal agencies have raided some medical-marijuana stores and arrested people.
Colorado and Washington have waited for the administration to indicate whether recreational-marijuana stores will be tolerated, but nothing substantial has come. In April, Pew Research released polling results showing 52 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization.
Cruinkshank said he's uncertain about recreational marijuana's future but expects the federal government will come to support medical marijuana once it's accepted by at least half the United States. About 20 states allow it in some form today.
For now, he's focused on working himself out of debt in the next year or two. His shelves are well-stocked, but his pot is largely from other dispensaries. He'll be making much less profit until he can start providing the product of his own grow operation.
His strains are about $180 to $225 per ounce. They include tinctures, salves and drinks, as well as a variety of strains.
Samantha McCoy, 21, drove three hours from Yuma to Fort Collins after a friend recommended A Kind Place. She bought an ounce of marijuana with a mix of strains including Cough Sunshine, Durban Poison and Bubble Kush.
She said she usually goes to Denver but wanted to try Cruinkshank's medicine.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: coloradoan.com
Author: Robert Allen
