A Marijuana Field Trip

I have been a very poor correspondent for this blog, but I did want to briefly post about a field trip I took my University of Denver students on last Friday.  About 25 students in my Representing the Marijuana Client class toured the Medicine Man grow facility and dispensary as well as the Dixie Elixirs infused products production facility.  

After starting the semester with a history of marijuana prohibition in the US and a crash course on federalism, preemption and anti-commandeering, we have lately been studying Colorado’s Rules and Regulations governing recreational marijuana production and sale.  I thought it was important for the students to see how these restrictions work in practice, and the proprietors of Medicine Man and Dixie were more than happy to host us. The students seemed impressed with the elaborate systems in place to track the marijuana throughout the production process and with the seriousness and sophistication of both businesses and those running them.

Whatever their views on the wisdom of marijuana regulation (and truthfully most are pro) I think they all walked away with a sense that Colorado’s licensed entities are carefully-run businesses trying to navigate a heavily regulated industry.  Most marijuana entrepreneurs who have joined the regulated market have invested an enormous amount in regulatory compliance; the students seemed convinced that these businesspeople have too much on the line to jeopardize their investment by diverting their products to the black market.

Maybe this is why so many Colorado businesses are so willing to open their doors for tours.  They seem to genuinely believe that when people see what a regulated marijuana business looks like, they will walk away more favorably inclined toward the industry.