Marijuana Dispensary Facts
Marijuana Dispensary Facts
There will be an additional 340,000 full-time jobs by the year 2022.
It is expected that legal sales of marijuana will grow by more than $20 billion by the year 2022. Currently, the cannabis industry employs 125,000 to 160,000 full-time workers and is expected to grow 21% per year, adding 340,000 more full-time jobs by 2022. This will include a wide range of jobs within the industry, from growing plants and operating a dispensary to providing ancillary services related to the cannabis industry.
The marijuana laws of the nation’s capital don’t allow users to buy marijuana in a regular buyer-seller interaction.
The law allows residents of Washington, D.C. to grow cannabis on their own property and exchange it but only if no money, goods or services are involved in the transaction. Instead of selling pot, merchants have to gift or donate pot when someone buys another good or service. Vendors secretly advertise pop-up events on social media for users to find out where the marijuana gifting markets are located. Users who don’t want to attend a pop-up event can rely on the expensive marijuana delivery market. This unusual buyer-seller interaction makes the marijuana market in D.C. quite different from others in the nation.
Marijuana remains illegal federally.
Even though recreational marijuana sales became legal in California on Jan. 1, 2018, the U.S. Attorney General recently rescinded a hands-off approach to marijuana prosecution in states that have legalized pot. During President Trump’s campaign he vowed to leave legislation regarding the legalization of marijuana up to the individual states. However the action of the U.S. Attorney General could be perceived as making progress for a federal crackdown on marijuana.
There are more marijuana dispensaries in Denver than there are Starbucks Coffee locations.
Denver, Colorado, has 169 retail marijuana stores and 195 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado for a grand total of 364 marijuana dispensaries. In comparison the total number of Starbucks Coffee locations in Denver is 80. Some say the state of Colorado is awash in weed.
Currently, thirty states legally regulate medical and/or adult recreational use of marijuana.
Thirty states plus the District of Columbia and Guam have state medical marijuana laws as of June 2018. These states include: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Las Vegas Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and West Virginia. In addition eight of these states have legalized the personal use of marijuana for people over the age of 21. These states include: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. These eight states regulate the production, distribution, and purchase of the marijuana. However only some states have effective state laws that address the use of medical marijuana despite federal law. To be effective the state law has to abolish criminal punishment for medical marijuana patients who have a doctor’s certificate and must allow them to access the substance at dispensaries or allow them to home grow.
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A recent study found that medical marijuana dispensaries weren’t correlated with an increased rate of violent crime in their surrounding neighborhoods.
This study came out of the University of California and examined crime rates in South Los Angeles. Findings reassured California residents that no link was found between medical marijuana dispensaries and an increase in the rate of violent crimes in their surrounding area. Researchers determined that many of the dispensaries had security guards and cameras to deter crime. By comparison many liquor and tobacco stores do not have security systems in place. Although the researchers could not prove a link between an increase in violent crime rates near dispensaries, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a link to the violence in South Los Angeles. In fact, medical marijuana dispensaries were associated with a higher rate of property crimes, suggesting that dispensaries could become a problem for the community.
Physicians don’t actually prescribe marijuana because under the federal law pharmacies are restricted from dispensing it.
Physicians can only “recommend” marijuana to patients if they believe they can benefit from it. Physicians have to write a recommendation letter stating the patient’s diagnosis and why they feel cannabis can be medically beneficial. Then the state can issue a medical marijuana ID card to the patient. Many dispensaries and pro-medical marijuana groups keep lists of physicians who will recommend cannabis for patients. Considering patients can’t go pick up their cannabis at Walgreens and it is not covered by insurance, they need to grow their own or go to dispensaries. Some dispensaries are legal depending on the state. Many dispensaries go under the name of cannabis clubs, co-ops or collectives and claim the marijuana they dispense is grown by members. However, critics contend that many dispensaries buy illegal marijuana to dispense to patients.
A study finds that car crashes rise in states with legal marijuana.
According to current research automobile accidents are increased in states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Collision claims have increased in four states that allow retail sale of recreational marijuana. Two studies found collision claims per insured vehicle increased a combined six percent in the states of Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington following legalization, compared to the states of Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that do not have legal recreational marijuana. Although driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal in all states, it is difficult to determine impairment. Taking this into account, the researchers remark that the link between marijuana and car accidents is not as strong as the link between alcohol and car accidents.
