Sales of medical marijuana and marijuana-laced products in Colorado Springs which topped $1.6 million in April alone are generating tens of thousands of dollars in revenue for the city.
From January 2009 through April, Colorado Springs has seen a tenfold increase in monthly sales tax revenue from medical marijuana, from $4,000 to $40,000.
Last year, the city collected $111,000 total from the sale of marijuana and marijuana-infused products, such as brownies, lotions and teas
Read more: Medical marijuana tax collections taking off | marijuana, medical, products - Public Affairs - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO
Medical marijuana tax collections taking off | marijuana, medical, products - Public Affairs - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO
These next quotes are from a NPR story, link will be at the end.
A group of girls was trying to score tickets, and talking about scoring pot from "the clubs," or dispensaries.
"I haven't bought weed from anyone besides the clubs since I got my [medical marijuana] card a month and a half ago," one says.
Andreana, Rebecca, and Libby might be a pot dealer's worst nightmare -- college girls with disposable incomes and medical marijuana cards. (These students, and others quoted in this story, didn't want their last names used.)
"It's just way safer, it's better quality, and ... I don't know, it's just way easier," one of the students says
Dealers complain about a bad economy, about losing customers.
Until this week, Colorado had no statewide regulations for marijuana dispensaries or growers. And that led to a gold rush of entrepreneurs trying to stake their claim on the market. On Monday, legislators made it harder to get a doctor's recommendation. And the state is outlawing people with felony drug convictions from working in the industry. That could force some dispensary owners back into the black market.
NPR.org Marijuana's Black Market: Will It Stay Or Will It Go?
If Colorado succeeds in closing some of the loopholes in its medical marijuana law, it could be a mixed blessing for the state's dealers. They might regain some market share, but they may also have to fight harder for their piece of it