Pubdate: Sun, 1 Nov 2009
Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Bay Area News Group
Contact: http://www.insidebayarea.com/feedback/tribune
Website: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/314
Author: Angela Woodall, Oakland Tribune
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

MARIJUANA LAWS SPUR SMALL BUSINESSES IN OAKLAND, ELSEWHERE

An incremental acceptance of medical marijuana has spurred a cottage 
industry of business ventures -- from iPhone applications to 
lobbyists -- whose expansion shows no sign of slowing despite the 
recession. Instead, pot is the new growth industry.

The market began to take off in 1996, when California became the 
first state to approve the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes. 
Today, medical marijuana sales in California are estimated at $700 
million to $2 billion per year. Profits from "canni-businesses" as a 
whole are potentially much greater.

"It is a social movement with cash flow," said James Anthony, an 
activist and attorney who has advised numerous dispensaries, of which 
there are at least 2,100 nationwide, according to the National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The group estimates that Californians alone consume nearly $6 billion 
of marijuana annually.

The money has always been there, Anthony said. It has just risen to 
the surface because people think there is less risk of being prosecuted.

The most obvious beneficiaries of what has been dubbed a "hempire" 
are dispensaries, growers and doctors, who charge up to $200 per consultation.

Newer are the small business ventures such as delivery services and 
publishers of books about how to start pot-related businesses. 
Pharmacologists are standardizing the safety and strength of the pot 
consumed in everything from lemon bars to olive oil. Advertisement 
Companies are preparing special machines, packaging and containers 
for the industry.

Hotels also are affected by cannabis-related tourism, conventions and 
competing trade shows that draw thousands to cities. And if anyone 
has trouble finding what they need, the iPhone and iTouch offer a 
cannabis application that allows users to locate resources worldwide.

Media involved with pot also have expanded. The Web-based station 
"Marijuana Radio" has been featured on the front page of the iTunes 
comedy podcast section, and the Denver Westword news weekly went 
further by posting a help wanted ad for a reviewer of Colorado's 
marijuana dispensaries and their products.

In addition, the number of pot lawyers and political consultants have 
exploded, and a half-dozen marijuana lobbying groups have sprung up 
in Washington, D.C., a few on K Street. Oakland activist Richard Lee 
said he spent more than a $1 million gathering signatures for a 
measure that would permit adults to possess cannabis for personal use 
and allow local governments to tax it.

Cannabis has become a regular political issue instead of just a 
crazy, hippie dream, Lee said. His "Oaksterdam University" was the 
first cannabis college. There are now at least a half-dozen in 
California, and others are looking at creating online versions of the 
classes available for about $50 a seminar.

Lee said last year he took in between $4 million and $5 million from 
his businesses, which also include an advertising agency, a tour 
company, a bicycle rental and glassblowing business, a gift shop 
selling souvenirs and merchandise, and the Bull Dog Cafe in downtown 
Oakland. (Visitors can take an "Oaksterdam" tour of the city's 
cannabis dispensaries through Segway of Oakland.)

The Harborside Health Center, an Oakland dispensary that offers 
numerous services, had about $20 million in gross revenues last year 
and expects to pay $400,000 in taxes to Oakland in 2010, according to 
founder and longtime activist Stephen DeAngelo. He employs 76 
full-time workers, up from 43 in 2008.

"We are seeing the first stages of this industry that has been in the 
shadows come into the light," said DeAngelo, a longtime advocate for 
cannabis legalization. "A legal cannabis industry would be a huge 
economic benefit."

Those potential benefits have prompted cash-strapped cities and 
states to take another look at marijuana. Oakland in 2004 became the 
first city to license medical cannabis outlets. That year, the city's 
four licensed dispensaries reported $26 million in revenue. Advocates 
projected income to reach $64 million in 2009.

Those numbers are dwarfed by the $280 billion pharmaceutical 
industry. But the pot-based figures were enough to convince Oakland 
voters in July to approve a tax on the proceeds of medical marijuana 
sales that could raise $300,000 per year for the city.

Advocates also were heartened recently by signals from President 
Barack Obama's administration that federal authorities were backing 
off pursuing smokers or distributors of medical cannabis as long as 
they operate according to the laws of their state.

That does not mean selling marijuana is legal or that the patchwork 
of local, county, state and federal law has been coordinated. But, 
DeAngelo said, "it is a significant change."

"Every day I went to work," he said, "I didn't know if I would be 
going to prison or coming home at night." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake