iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More

Denver Now Has More Marijuana Dispensaries Than It Does Starbucks

The Huffington Post   First Posted: 07/06/2011 7:47 pm Updated: 07/26/2012 10:08 am

In Denver, there are more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks, according to The Daily.

Nearly 300 medical marijuana dispensaries have been established for Colorado's residence since the passing of Amendment 20 in the 2000 general election. And according to The Daily, some of these dispensaries, in order to help bring in business, even offer first-time customers a free joint.

The state's booming Farm-ocology business may be good for other businesses as well, reports MSNBC.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been providing newspapers in areas where they are legal new sources of ad revenue. One such paper, in California, is the Sacramento News and Review, an alternative newspaper.

According to a Sacramento KXTV report, the ads from the medical marijuana ads have given the paper enough funds to hire new staff and expand distribution. The ads were so profitable that the paper even started a new supplement called 4-20, reports KXTV.

The Sacramento News and Review isn't the only paper benefiting from the medical marijuana business. The Denver alternative paper Westword has employed the first ever medical marijuana critic, according to The Daily.

But that doesn't mean papers in states like California and Colorado are going to be lining up to accept medical marijuana advertisements, reports KXTV. The reason, Sacramento News and Review's CEO and Publisher Jeff vonKaenel told KXTV, is that other papers fear they would lose money on the venture.

"If you ran medical marijuana ads, you would actually lose more other advertisements," says vonKaenel. "So most all other media decided not to do it."

Watch KXTV report here:

Loading Slideshow...
  • Alaska

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanasise/6847095796/" target="_hplink">Flickr: alana sise</a>

  • Arizona

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billward/110338154/" target="_hplink">Flickr: Bill Ward's Brickpile</a>

  • California

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerbache/2260207829/" target="_hplink">Flickr: gerbache</a>

  • Colorado

    Also legalized possession by non-medical users. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dok1/520845832/" target="_hplink">Flickr: dok1</a>

  • Connecticut

    Legalized for medical use.

  • District Of Columbia

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigberto/2770838680/" target="_hplink">Flickr: ~MVI~ (off to coron)</a>

  • Delaware

    Legalized for medical use. Flickr: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/7749689644/">Doug Kerr</a>

  • Hawaii

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricardo_mangual/6006230817/" target="_hplink">Flickr: Ricymar Fine Art Photography</a>

  • Maine

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="www.flickr.com/photos/indywriter/2683524563/" target="_hplink">Flickr: indywriter</a>

  • Massachusetts

    Passed ballot initiative for legalized medical marijuana in 2012.

  • Michigan

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayoticblue/213316452/" target="_hplink">Flickr: ckay</a>

  • Montana

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/csbarnhill/2633187564/" target="_hplink">Flickr: csbarnhill</a>

  • Nevada

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/http2007/4699361533/" target="_hplink">Flickr: http2007</a>

  • New Jersey

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulflannery/4021996652/" target="_hplink">Flickr: psflannery</a>

  • New Mexico

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everyskyline/3134662783/" target="_hplink">Flickr: michaelwhitney</a>

  • Oregon

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/d-powell/2099638403/" target="_hplink">Flickr: digging90650</a>

  • Rhode Island

    Legalized for medical use. Also decriminalized possession of less than one ounce.

  • Vermont

    Legalized for medical use. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryanalexander/6129117/" target="_hplink">Flickr: BryanAlexander</a>

  • Washington

    Legalized for medical use. Also legalized possession by non-medical users. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rose_braverman/6924724331/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_hplink">Flickr: Rose Braverman</a>

FOLLOW HUFFPOST BUSINESS

 
 
  • Comments
  • 610
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3 4 5  Next ›  Last »  (17 total)
03:19 PM on 07/19/2011
Great news! Finally a business sector that provides something people actually need as well as stimulating the local economy with more jobs and tax dollars. Where is the downside?
How To Open A Dispensary
04:45 AM on 07/14/2011
Funny how easy it is to get marijuana in Denver yet you never really hear too much about rampant crime and unchecked violence going on there.
08:25 PM on 07/13/2011
If marijuana is used for medical purposes,we need to be sensitive and compassionate to people who have legitimate needs. We should bend the law and do what's right. I got to know medical marijuana lawyers who are passionate about bringing change to the United States of America and shining a light on the hypocrisy of some of the laws of this great nation. Since 2007, they have helped open over 50 dispensaries across the nation. A cancer survivor (non hodgkin’s lymphoma) who was denied access to medical marijuana that would have helped him through his chemotherapy treatments. A mother passed away from cancer three years ago, but was given access to medical marijuana, which allowed her to enjoy the last few months of her life. Due to these experiences that they feel safe and legal access to medical marijuana should be a right every person plagued by chronic illness should have(www.opendispensary.in).
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ReelBusy
I'm the Ghost of Hollywood Past
07:10 PM on 07/11/2011
"according to The Daily, some of these dispensaries, in order to help bring in business, even offer first-time customers a free joint."

After a tooth extraction CVS gave me a $25 gift card for getting my $10 Vicodin prescription filled there.
The difference?
none
11:00 AM on 07/08/2011
What is it about Denver that gives so many people chronic pain?

All the people with prescriptions have chronic pain right?
12:33 PM on 07/08/2011
No. Some of us have chronic nausea. Although nationwide, an estimated 60 million people suffer from chronic pain, about 1 in 7. So 125,000 out of Colorado's 5 million is actually really low. More people could benefit from medical marijuana if there wasn't still an irrational stigma attached to it.
10:34 AM on 07/08/2011
The single most positive thing government could do, both for public health and the economy, is legalize it. Criminalize tobacco, the real killer, and convert the entire tobacco industry en masse over to growing it. By legalizing it you would unleash hemp onto the market, and nothing, and I mean nothing comes close to the revolution that would bring. Hemp can literally save the world. It gobbles CO2 at 4 times the rate per acre as any other plant. It can reverse climate change. It produces 10 times the methanol per acre as corn. It can replace oil. It is the highest quality food you can eat, rich in EFA and proteins.
01:06 PM on 07/08/2011
Well said Seawolf! :)
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ReelBusy
I'm the Ghost of Hollywood Past
07:11 PM on 07/11/2011
Legalizing cannabis turns a money pool controlled by cartels into jobs, taxes and revenue that benefit all citizens.

Prohibition is a failed public policy.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Shawn Wolfe
A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory
10:05 AM on 07/08/2011
This medical marijuana dispensary business could still be very short lived if Obama decides to reverse the Justice Departments stance on going after them.

Not to mention if hell freezes over and a Republican gets elected next year.. Just legalize it and regulate it and be done with it.
Philimanjaro
Hate is law in the two-party system.
01:38 AM on 07/08/2011
Old news Huffpo. Get with it.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wilray
50,000 Screaming Fans (Ignore that other number)
11:58 PM on 07/07/2011
No one needs Starbucks.
photo
RobJames
busy scraping conservatism off the sole of my shoe
10:45 PM on 07/07/2011
The true Rocky Mountain High
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
kndtloeser
Love everyone
10:19 PM on 07/07/2011
Also more bars, liquor stores, and so forth. At least, from this cancer patient, the mj is by far the best.
10:08 PM on 07/07/2011
Free the weed.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
07:31 PM on 07/07/2011
How many of us use anti-depressants or pills to ease stress or pain? Well, cannabis is the most natural , effective and least harmful drug to address those problems that we have. It has been around as a healing for almost 5,000 years, possibly longer. Queen Elizabeth's doctor prescribed it to her for menstrual cramps. In the same way it eases cramps, it stops nausea in it's tracks immediately.

All this, and not ONE death attributed to it's use? And we have a big problem with it? Only because the reefer madness campaign was such a good one. But when the government tried to get actual data on it's supposed dangers, their top anti-drug researcher ended up recommending it be legalized. http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/top-anti-drug-researcher-says-legalize-marijuana/

Also, when Nixon tried to get reasons to sustain prohibition, his committee came back with similar results: http://proxychi.baremetal.com/csdp.org/publicservice/nixon06.pdf

The prohibition of cannabis is simply about money. If it were about public health, we would certainly see cigarrettes and alcohol banned first!
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
fumes
Midnight Toker
09:20 AM on 07/08/2011
''our'' government..

is caught on this one!

it's not really for the people by the people at all..
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ttigerlilyx2
06:40 PM on 08/28/2011
Little bit late, but fanned and faved!
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
07:29 PM on 07/07/2011
How is the State of Colorado involved? How muich revenue are they bringing in? How is medical heed determined? That would be damned enlightening information for me and the Federal Justice Department of newspeak.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
onlythetruthcounts
Golden Rule: whoever got the gold, rule.
07:10 PM on 07/07/2011
New Bucket List Entry: Vacation in Denver.
photo
dayzee10
Are you a master builder or a master butcher?
10:35 AM on 07/08/2011
Better yet........move to Denver!!!!