Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2015 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Will Sowards

SCOTTSDALE COMPANY CAPITALIZES ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA INDUSTRY

SCOTTSDALE - Bud is a burgeoning business in Arizona. Revenue from 
medical marijuana in Arizona more than tripled year-over-year in 
2014, leading to a variety of individuals trying to find a fortune 
among the green.

The Marijuana Companies is just one of the businesses trying to 
capitalize on the growing industry.

"At some point, marijuana is going to be legalized, that's just the 
trend that I see," company spokesman John Gorman said.

Since the Scottsdale-based company went public in March, Gorman and 
the employees at The Marijuana Companies have worked hard to create 
what they call an online marijuana hub, a one-stop-shop for anything 
marijuana related, whether it's finding a dispensary, a recipe or even a date.

Arizona voters in 2010 passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, 
which allows people with certain medical conditions to use medical 
marijuana after obtaining a doctor's recommendation.

In 2014, the department estimated marijuana sales generated $112 
million in revenue, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The industry will continue to grow as more people obtain 
medical-marijuana cards. Efforts to legalize marijuana have been 
generally unsuccessful in Arizona, though one state lawmaker is 
attempting legalize the drug and has introduced a bill to do so. 
However, it doesn't have much support at the Legislature.

With so much cash at stake, companies have flocked to Arizona to 
cultivate and sell medical marijuana. But it also has opened up other 
opportunities.

For example, The Marijuana Companies Joint Lovers venture is a 
website designed to help marijuana users find love and friendship 
based on their mutual love for the drug. The company also offers 
marijuana-infused recipes at MarijuanaRecipes.com and recently 
purchased 420 Careers, an online database for finding jobs in the 
marijuana industry.

The company offers more than 12,000 marijuana-related domain names 
for rent as well.

"I'm sure we will be a major hub," said Howard Baer, founder of The 
Marijuana Companies. "It's one thing to put a listing in a directory, 
but our clients can advertise on all of our sites, and they all link 
into each other."

The company's first product, Weed Depot, premiered in November and 
offers a service for both marijuana consumers and businesses 
nationwide. Similar to other national services like Leafly and 
WeedMaps, Weed Depot lists marijuana dispensaries near an individual 
in U.S. locations that allow it. The site also shows some of the 
services the dispensaries offer, including the strains of marijuana 
they carry and available food products.

The non-profit status of dispensaries in Arizona makes advertising 
and marketing extremely difficult here. This has given The Marijuana 
Companies an opportunity to help dispensaries reach their key 
demographics, company officials said.

Dispensaries have little reason to use general advertising, said 
Anthony Evans, a senior research fellow at the L. William Seidman 
Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona 
State University.

"All a dispensary can do at present is sell medical marijuana to 
qualifying patients, and (they) are not allowed to sell it to anybody 
else," he said.

Since medical marijuana became legal in Arizona, only 60,000 people 
have obtained medical-marijuana cards, according to the Arizona 
Department of Health Services.

Evans said the industry has strong growth potential based on studies 
he's read showing marijuana's popularity among Arizonans.

In 2014 alone, 85 dispensaries opened, according to the health 
department report.

Evans said the market will only increase if the state adds more 
medical conditions.

[sidebar]

Medical marijuana by the numbers:

- -Dispensaries opened in 2014: 85

- -Registered dispensary agents: 1,506

- -Total number of active medical-marijuana cardholders: 63,417

- -Total amount of marijuana sold: 9.14 metric tons

- -Total estimated revenue: $112 million

Source: Arizona Department of Health Services Arizona Medical 
Marijuana Act End of Year Report for 2014
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom