‘Into the dark’: Recreational cannabis industry prepares for the unknown in Montana

December 27, 2021
AggregatedNews
Montana
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Anticipation for Jan. 1 hangs in the air of a parking lot here where four cannabis dispensaries sit shoulder-to-shoulder.

Next month could mean a budding business plan blossoming into its full potential, or it could bring possible failure in an industry as crowded as this lot.

“It’s kind of like charging into the dark,” said Cody Lundmark, co-owner of Sacred Sun Farms, one of the four shops of the Four Corners cluster.

Montana will launch recreational cannabis sales on Jan. 1. The road to recreational use has been thrust onward by Montana’s voters, who legalized medical use in 2004 and then took the full plunge in 2020. In last year’s election, 58% of voters enshrined cannabis use in the state Constitution alongside alcohol.

In the final weeks ahead of recreational sales, providers have been ramping up their production, specializing their craft and bracing for the unknowns like what demand will be.

Local governments, meanwhile, have been trying to balance the voters’ will with regulatory framework rolled out by the state Legislature, along with feedback from the industry.

In this lot, providers are nervous and excited, but their position in the weeks leading up to recreational sales makes all the difference in determining who is confident and who is keeping their options open. [Read more at Independent Record]

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