CB SEES BUDDING BUSINESS

Revenues From Medical Pot Shops Climbing

While sales tax receipts from three medical marijuana dispensaries in
the Town of Crested Butte are still only a fraction of the town's
total revenues, they've increased every month since the businesses
hung their shingles this past summer.

Based on the most recent sales tax figures available, total sales
taxes paid by the dispensaries comprised about 4 percent of retail tax
revenues in the town in September.

Dispensary operators chalk the growth they're experiencing up to more
patients obtaining Colorado medical marijuana registry cards locally,
as well as more visits from patrons who live outside of the area.

Crested Butte Alternative Medicine owner Stephen Hattendorf noted
visits the shop receives every few weeks from a couple who lives in
Lake City.

"Between Grand Junction, Delta and here, there's really not a whole
lot (in the way of dispensaries)," he said.

The amount of money reported by the dispensaries may seem a drop in
the bucket compared to total sales tax revenue collected among all
businesses in the town -- amounting to about 1 percent. However, in
comparison with other municipalities throughout the state that have
dispensaries, Crested Butte appears to be booming.

A recent report in the Denver Post noted that sales tax revenue from
dispensaries accounted for just .5 percent of October sales taxes in
Colorado Springs, and .7 percent in Denver. So far this year, the
state has collected more than $2.2 million in sales tax from
dispensaries, according to that report.

The Town of Crested Butte's sales tax rate is 4 percent, and the town
has about 250 sales tax accounts within its boundaries, said Finance
Director Lois Rozman.

The town passed an ordinance earlier this year that allows the
operation of dispensaries -- which sell the drug via a retail sales
model. No other municipality in the county has decided yet whether
dispensaries will be allowed within their jurisdiction.

Molly Mugglestone, director of the Gunnison County Substance Abuse
Prevention Project (GCSAPP), said the group is continuing to encourage
parents, especially in the Crested Butte area, to have conversations
with their kids about marijuana, given the introduction of
dispensaries to the town.

She also said that GCSAPP has encouraged -- and plans to continue
urging -- town leaders to adopt a surcharge on medical marijuana sales
in the town that could fund prevention and intervention efforts.

Crested Butte Wellness Center manager Grant Belcher believes that
dispensaries are simply taking business away from the black market.

"We get a new person in every day and we rarely have a one-visit
customer," he said. "I think it's because we're more convenient, have
more to offer and a lot more people are getting their cards."

As with other up-valley businesses, dispensary operators acknowledged
that sales were slow through the off-season. But business is picking
up lately -- especially with the onset of ski season.

"I think in the long run, skiers in general are open to this kind of
pain relief, this kind of medicine," said Craig Burbank, an employee
at Acme Dispensary. "Having the ski resort here, I think (the
dispensaries) will be great for the tourists."