Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jun 2013
Source: Oneida Daily Dispatch (NY)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.oneidadispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4546
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press

BUSINESSMAN TRIES HIS LUCK AT BUILDING POT BRAND

SEATTLE (AP)- For the activists who led the effort to legalize 
recreational marijuana in Washington state last fall, Jamen Shively 
was one of their biggest fears: an aspiring pot profiteer whose 
unabashed dreams of building a cannabis empire might attract unwanted 
attention from the federal government or a backlash that could slow 
the marijuana reform movement across the country.

With visionary zeal, the 45- year-old former Microsoft manager 
described his plans to a conference room packed with reporters and 
supporters last month, saying he was tired of waiting for a green 
light from the Obama administration, which still hasn't said how it 
will respond to the legalization of recreational pot in Washington 
and Colorado. Shively vowed to quickly raise $ 10 million and 
eventually build his company, Diego Pellicer, into an international 
pot powerhouse.

Shively's ambitions - "We are Big Marijuana," he proclaimed - don't 
merely raise questions about what marijuana legalization might look 
like in the long run and whether large corporations will come to 
dominate. He also risks getting himself indicted.

The Justice Department has said while it doesn't intend to prosecute 
sick people for using marijuana, it will go after those who try to 
get rich from commercial sales.

Shively isn't skirting the edges of the nascent industry, but diving 
right in, in a way that few other entrepreneurs are. Diego Pellicer's 
business plan estimates $ 120,000 of pure profit per month, per 
recreational pot store. Shively said he plans dozens of stores in 
Washington and Colorado.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom