Whenever you go into a business venture, regardless of the fact what kind of business that would be, you have to have a business plan. That business plan usually holds a profit/loss projection for the next five years because most businesses need those five years to get back everything they invested, only to finally start making clean profit from the venture itself. A dispensary, like any other business, has investments regarding permits, lease, cultivation and acquisition of cannabis from the distributors.
Profits & Costs
If the new bill passes and legalizes such establishments, we can expect over 200 hundred cannabis retailers popping up in the state during the next two years. The retailers are expected to cough up $4,000 a year for a registration license. According to current estimates, Oregon could see up to $900,000 in the next two years from dispensaries alone. The Legislative Fiscal Office made the estimate and a budgetary committee went through the proposed figures a couple of days ago. Creating the registry is also pretty costly as it would need a small staff to make sure everything goes according to plan. To be exact, four people are needed for that particular job and their salaries would be covered from registration fees. Rep. Peter Buckley said that this bill is Oregon’s best shot at regulating medical marijuana properly.
Unregulated Territory
Medical marijuana has been legal in Oregon since 1998 and its black market has been flourishing ever since. The state is running wild with medical marijuana, especially Jackson and Josephine counties, the latter of which is pretty much the center of the state’s cannabis cultivation industry. Actually, there is a surplus of medical marijuana in Oregon and there’s one thing that Oregonians don’t do – they don’t let that shit go to waste. That’s why you can walk into a lot of cafes and lounges and walk out with some sweet buds in your pocket.
Black Market Economics
If this bill passes, current and future dispensary owners would have to go through criminal background checks, keep actual real records of how much cannabis goes through their dispensary. Still, there is one major flaw in the bill – there are no routine inspections being mentioned, which is something that Colorado has embraced wholeheartedly. The police chief in Medford is not that excited about the bill as it does very little to control the black market of medical marijuana in Oregon because the focus here is on distribution and all those rules and regulations do nothing to regulate the actual production of marijuana. The proposal covers only whether cannabis cultivators are registered with the state and that’s it, no further inspections seem to be necessary. The bill should add a couple of regulations regarding the cultivation of marijuana, as that should be one of the first steps of eradicating the black market.
