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Outside of conventions like Hempcon, most Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries are hesitant about self-promotion. They avoid television ads or billboards, and even websites are a rarity. The main source of marketing tends to be print ads in local alternative newspapers. Some weeklies, such as the Colorado Springs Independent and Denver’s Westword, have entire supplements devoted to medical marijuana, where dispensaries with unmedical-sounding names like Daddy Fat Sacks and Mr. Stinky’s compete for attention. Then there are the sidewalk sign flippers, usually bikini-clad. An ordinance banning dispensaries in the Boulder area from using language inconsistent with legal medicinal use, whether in newspaper ads or sidewalk signs, was passed unanimously in September.
It isn’t just politicians looking to change the way medical marijuana markets itself. Bob Selan, who runs KushCon, another medical marijuana convention, as well as the marijuana lifestyle magazine Kush, advises dispensary owners to “get away from that black market mentality. … It should look and feel like a pharmacy.”
Norton Arbelaez and his partners, who co-own the RiverRock Wellness dispensaries in Denver and Telluride, have become the poster children of regulation obedience, following state guidelines for medical marijuana to an almost fanatical degree. “Compliance, compliance, compliance,” says Arbelaez. “That’s why I’m still standing.” He’s invested over $45,000 in surveillance equipment alone, allowing Colorado regulators to watch over RiverRock “from seed to sale.” And he wants the competition held to the same standards. “I’d like to see it that you can’t own a dispensary in the state of Colorado unless you’re a person of good moral character,” Arbelaez says. “If you had a drug felony ever, you may not be an owner. If you haven’t paid your taxes, you may not be an owner. Even if you’re behind on your child support, you should be kept out.” Arbelaez’s approach isn’t just good sense; it’s also good strategy. “I’ve seen 50 percent attrition in the last few years,” he says. “There are half as many people in this business as there were when I got into it.”
Wanda James and Scott Durrah, the husband-and-wife owners of Simply Pure, a Denver manufacturer of gourmet cannabis edibles launched earlier this year, have taken a more media-savvy approach to attracting customers. They’ve got a slick company website that doesn’t feature semi-naked women or marijuana puns—their menu includes such unpsychedelic-sounding items as “mango salsa,” “apple butter,” and “marinara”—and they’ve received more national exposure than any of their medical-marijuana peers, with coverage on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, the Wall Street Journal, and CNBC. Despite their ambitious efforts to appeal to mainstream middle-of-the-road America, they’ve still repeatedly hit the glass ceiling of their industry. Says James: “Our restaurant”—they also operate a Caribbean-cuisine eatery in Denver with non-cannabis entrees—“serves 86 different types of rum, and I can advertise that anywhere. With marijuana, our options are much more limited. I’m not knocking rum, but it is funny how that works.”
Thomas R. Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, believes the cannabis business is inherently risky, no matter the drug’s legal standing in Colorado. “At any moment in time the federal government can exercise its power of preemption and do what they want.” There are ominous signs from California, where in October several medical marijuana dispensaries were closed or raided in a statewide crackdown. “The law has been hijacked by profiteers who are motivated not by compassion but by money,” says San Francisco U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. “Where there’s marijuana, there’s money, and lots of it.” It was a scary message to anybody in the medical marijuana trade but especially for dispensary owners in Colorado, many of whom make no secret that they’re “profiteers.” If a federal crackdown could happen in California, they wonder, why couldn’t it happen here?
Nevertheless, more than a few insiders make bold predictions that some unknown dispensary on the verge of bankruptcy today could become the Coca-Cola or Starbucks of marijuana tomorrow. KushCon’s Selan envisions a bright future: “I wouldn’t be surprised if marijuana becomes a branded product, like California wines.”
