Every startup has its challenges, but a cannabis startup comes with additional challenges. Entrepreneurs who want to get in the business face a unique set of hurdles, including ever-changing regulations, legal issues and struggles to set up the right team.
Canopy, a Boulder-based business accelerator program and venture fund for the cannabis industry, chooses ten new enterprises every year for its mentorship and business-building program. The first class graduated in 2015; this year’s companies range from a robotics endeavor to a real estate outfit to an eco-friendly packaging firm.
Micah Tapman, managing director of Canopy, is in charge of the team that narrows down the program applicants. “Finding participants is easy and hard,” he notes. “It’s easy to get a lot of interest; it’s hard to find the gems.”
We recently sat down with Tapman to find out what he thinks is essential for success in the cannabis industry. Then we added some tips from the Women Grow Leadership Summit earlier this month to compile this list of ten things would-be ganjapreneurs need to know:
I know old-timers will cringe when reading this, but I was introduced to Pineapple Express as a movie, not a strain (that’s how young I am). Not one to buy into commercial hype, I stayed away from the strain in my early years of toking, always thinking it was a ploy to sell some less-than-stellar herb. But nearly nine years after the stoner-action flick came out, I thought it was safe to give it a try.
The amount of Pineapple Express on the market has definitely died down since the movie’s release, so I feel more comfortable about its authenticity today. The strain carries an impressive lineage of Hawaiian and Trainwreck strains deserving of recognition, with or without Seth Rogen. Its heavy, dense buds may make users think it’s an indica, but its classic genetics and racy high are anything but. As the name implies, hints of pineapple are present in the strain’s smell and flavor, but bad growing practices and poor curing methods can rob it of both. Still, the strain’s resilient nature against pests and temperature fluctuation makes it a popular clone choice for home-growers, and its high THC content can make it as rewarding as it is easy in the grow.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery launched a fresh appeal this week in a lawsuit he believes could overturn the state’s medical-marijuana law.
This time, though, his office will be going it alone.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has chosen to side with Arizona voters.
After Bec Koop, a Denver-based florist, saw a need for green at some Colorado weddings, she wound up hosting Colorado Cannabis Wedding Expo events. Being able to bring together cannabis-friendly businesses to help couples plan their weddings was a dream come true, she says, standing in the mock-bridal suite of a showcase in Littleton on February 19. Still, she adds, there were some barriers to the business.
Back in 2011, Koop traded in her more traditional wedding-floral business for one that incorporates her budtendress skills: Buds and Blossoms, which allows brides to add some tastefully placed nugs to any floral arrangement, among other things.
Roberta Smith, occupational health program manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, hasn’t heard of anyone dying in an industrial accident at a Colorado marijuana business. But she says dispensaries, grows and the like present unusual safety risks, including the possibility of fires and explosions from hash-oil extraction, in addition to the sort of everyday dangers that hover over virtually every workplace. That’s why the CDPHE has produced “Guide for Worker Safety and Health in the Marijuana Industry,” which Smith believes is the first-ever document of its kind.
“We wanted to make sure we put something comprehensive together outlining some of the hazards that may exist and give businesses some best practices for how to build a health-and-safety program,” Smith says.
The guide, on view below in its entirety, was put together with “input from the industry itself, epidemiologists, health professionals and a variety of other partners,” Smith reveals. Also involved were state officials who consider the guide a necessity in part because of the way inspections of dispensaries and grow facilities in Colorado are handled.
Dear Stoner: I’m confused about the plant count for cannabis home grows in Denver. Are they different from the State of Colorado’s limits?
Pat S.
Dear Pat: Many towns and municipalities throughout Colorado, including Denver, have plant limits that differ from the state’s. For a definitive answer on Denver, I reached out to Dan Rowland, citywide communications advisor for Denver’s Office of Marijuana Policy, who says this: “The answer is yes, they are different and can vary from city to city. In Denver, adults may grow up to six plants, but it is illegal for there to be more than twelve plants in any residence, regardless of how many people live there and regardless of their medical patient/caregiver status and/or individual plant-count allowances. For growing in non-residential-zone lots (and not in licensed cultivation businesses), adults may grow up to six plants, but it’s illegal to have more than 36 plants per zone lot, regardless of how many people are growing there.”
Would you like fries with that?
Tumbleweed Express is set to open in Parachute in March, and it’s going to have something that no other dispensary in the state does: a drive-thru.
On February 18, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported that the Parachute Board of Trustees had approved Tumbleweed’s business license and the idea had cleared the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. The dispensary is taking over a building that was once a car wash. This allows cars to drive through a completely covered area, as opposed to a typical fast-food drive-thru.
A bill introduced in the Colorado Senate last week would allow you to get weed delivered to your house. If the measure passes, dispensaries could apply for a delivery endorsement, then have an employee or approved contractor drive recreational or medical cannabis or cannabis products right to your door.
The daily purchase limits would still apply, so a single household could not receive more than one ounce of recreational flower or two ounces of medical a day. There would also be limits on residences where deliveries are allowed: Residential homes would be okay, but delivery would not be available for public spaces, dormitories, hotels or commercial businesses.
Concentrates are a popular variation of cannabis. Whether you prefer budder, shatter, wax or oil, concentrates dominated the market in 2016 and were the top-selling marijuana product in Colorado. Here’s a look at some of the most beautiful concentrates from Colorado:
The medicinal uses of marijuana span a wide variety of diseases and disorders, but a recent study conducted by Colorado State University indicates that cannabis may not be as useful for treating depression and anxiety.
In December 8, researchers in the Department of Psychology at Colorado State University published a study regarding the relationship between marijuana use and depression and anxiety in study participants. Led by professor Lucy Troup, a cognitive neuroscientist at CSU, the study focused on the residual effects of marijuana over time on three groups of students — casual users, chronic users and non-users — and observed how individuals assessed their levels of depression and anxiety.