To address demand for medical cannabis, the Arizona Department of Health Services was given regulatory powers over the nascent sector.
The difference between the two types of users lies in the approved levels of tetrahydrocannabinol , the psychoactive chemical that produces an intoxicated state when smoked, vaporized or ingested.
Both are subject to transaction privilege taxes — which are general retail sales taxes levied by the state, county and municipalities — but recreational purchases also include a 16% excise tax.
“During the Prop 207 campaign, we said that within a few years, the entire cannabis program would contribute $300 million of tax revenue to the state.
“The final revenue number will be more than just a doubling of the first half of the year, partly because we didn’t start recreational adult use sales until Jan.
Lilach Power is the founder and CEO of The Giving Tree and the only female majority-owner of a dispensary in Arizona.
“On the retail side, we went from 12 people to 26.
Part of what has boosted sales numbers is the diversity of people who walk through the doors.
It owns Kindred, a brand of THC capsules with dosages meant for daytime and nighttime use that is available in 65 dispensaries in Arizona.
The dispensary’s cannabis plants are grown in The Giving Tree’s prior location, which had been split between the grow operation and retail.
We also test each of our capsules to make sure that if it says 5 milligrams of THC, the customer actually gets 5 milligrams,” Power explains.
The actual part of the plant that is smoked, colloquially known as flower, is the bud of a female cannabis plant that is covered in a sticky oil that contains THC and other naturally occurring chemicals.
As such, the types of employees that a dispensary requires goes beyond “budtenders,” who are the front-of-house staff who educate patients and customers on different products.
We have folks who work on compliance, a marketing team, a sales director, human resources, finance and bookkeeping,” Power says.
Ryan Hermansky, one of three founders of Noble Herb in Flagstaff, notes that the cannabis industry has professionalized over the last decade.
“Anybody who works in our lab has a chemistry degree or a science-based degree, which gives them the foundation to learn, make adjustments and continually educate themselves as this industry grows and becomes more professional,” Hermansky says.
Today, they see the value and understand that they can charge significantly more for cannabis use, but nothing to the point of being unethical,” says Laura Bianchi, partner at Bianchi & Brandt.
Burgeson, shareholder at Engelman Berger, explains: “Because marijuana remains federally illegal, traditional financing for any marijuana-related business is limited to just a few financial institutions.
Power mentions that unlike in other states that have legalized cannabis, there are Arizona banks that will work with local dispensaries.
The biggest difference between coming into our dispensary versus any other retail location is the lack of debit and credit card access,” Hermansky notes.
One company, the name of which Power declined to provide, has created a new solution — that her bank’s compliance department approved — that allows The Giving Tree to accept debit cards as a form of payment.
Among other things, these acts will expand the safe harbors for financial institutions, potentially de- or re-schedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act and make small business administration loans available for cannabis related businesses or service providers,” Burgerson says.
We’re close to more than 100 million Americans who have access to recreational or medical marijuana, and they’re experiencing the personal benefits,” he says.