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A marijuana dispensary or cannabis dispensary is a local government regulated physical location, typically inside a retail store front or office building, in which a person can purchase cannabis and cannabis related items for medical or recreational use and/or consumption. First modeled in Amsterdam in the late 1970s where they were innocently called coffee shops it would take the Americans more than a generation to successfully duplicate the idea of a retail cannabis storefront. Unlike the Dutch coffee shops, today marijuana dispensary customers are prevented from consuming cannabis on the site of a regulated marijuana dispensary in all known markets. There are a few attempts to create smokers clubs, some regulated, some unregulated, but there are no state or government regulated smoking clubs that share space inside a government regulated marijuana dispensary at this time.

Patterning their regulations after the existing state regulated drug and liquor stores, government regulated marijuana dispensaries now exist in sixteen US states, Canada, South America (Paraguay) and Europe (Amsterdam). Preferring taxation and regulation to incarceration, the European nations of Italy, Poland and Germany have recently started drafting medical marijuana regulations of their own.

In a traditional medical marijuana dispensary store a patient receives cannabis medication as allowed per the patients doctors recommendation. In 2013 Colorado became the first state in the United States to begin regulating recreational marijuana dispensaries. These stores are reminiscent of Amsterdam's coffee shops but more similar to alcohol retailers in that any adult over 21 may enter and purchase cannabis from these state and locally licensed operators. Colorado regulates marijuana producers and sellers under Colorado's Department of Revenue, right alongside the state liquor, tobacco and gambling licensing and enforcement office.

A marijuana dispensary differs from similar retail stores known as head shops, in that only government licensed marijuana dispensaries are authorised to sell cannabis. Head shops are much more common than marijuana dispensaries and can be found in most major cities and states and nations. It is not uncommon for small gas stations and convenice stores to sell glassware and other smoking accessories one might find in a head shops. Local laws govern a shop keeper's ability to sell specific items such as water pipes or other devices often associated with drug use. These laws, and a shop keepers willingness to bend or break them, is often the only reason a specific head shops exists. Marijuana dispensary shop keepers, on the other hand, are highly regulated and required to follow the law for fear of losing their ability to sell the highly profitable cannabis.

History

1970s

Kingdom of the Netherlands, in Europe makes a highly educated yet controversial decision to ignore cannabis sellers that would forever change the face of the drug war. In 1976 the Dutch government recognized the need to separate hard core drug dealers from pot dealers and chose to openly ignore cannabis distribution which, ultimately, led to the creation of what some consider the first marijuana dispensaries since the introduction of . In the Netherlands these early versions of marijuana dispensaries are still today innocently called coffee shop's.

1990s - 2015

First marijuana dispensary appears in California, USA. Forbes magazine reports that the owners broker new ground and as a result of all their hard effort, they are now broke

In 2000 Colorado's citizens vote for Amendment 20 which allows medical use of marijuana by any Colorado adult. Shortly thereafter Colorado's first marijuana dispensary, Colorado Compassion Club opened in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Recent times

In 2010 in an effort to provide a regulatory framework in which to allow and tax marijuana dispensaries, the state of Colorado enacts House Bill 10-1284 the first state government authored marijuana regulations. The adoption of this law allowed Colorado residents to open medical marijuana dispensaries which they did in droves with nearly one thousand entrepreneurs standing in line to make the Sunday August 1 registration deadline. Not registering before that date meant an operator must close to the public. If, however, they met that and two other difficult requirements the stores were allowed to keep their doors open while they applied for state and local licensing.

Washington state becomes the second state in the US to develop a regulatory framework for marijuana dispensary operators improving the access to cannabis patients beyond the caregiver model.

Creating enough controversy to create a temporary city wide moratorium, the first marijuana dispensary & gas station opens in Colorado, USA.

On January 8th, 2016 the city of Trinidad Colorado became the first city in the world to approve a pot mini mall. According to local news reports the developer worked for some time to convince the city officials to allow a design where they could place five separate regulated recreational marijuana dispensaries right next to one another.

North America

The term "marijuana dispensary" in the United States is most often used to refer to private organizations or companies that sell cannabis, particularly in the states of California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. "Cannabis dispensary" is starting to become a more politically correct term as conscientious people prefer the use of the word cannabis which avoids using the more common Spanish slang word "marijuana".

Medical marijuana dispensaries

Twenty three of the United States regulate some form of medical cannabis sales. As of 2016 seventeen of those states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Washington, D.C.) have at least one medical marijuana dispensary.

Recreational a.k.a. "retail" marijuana dispensaries

Today only four states Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington currently regulate recreational sellers. These are stores where any adult 21+ can enter to purchase cannabis and or cannabis smoking accessories.

Notable marijuana dispensaries

(Seeking info on) significant Amsterdam Coffee Shop's

Harborside Health Center, Oakland, California - Steve D'Angelo, C.E.O. - Harborside calls itself the largest marijuana dispensary in California and his claim turned into the title of a 4 part reality show. It is hard to verify such a claim as the state does a very poor job regulating the industry and therefore few reliable records actually exist. Harborside Health Center has been doggedly pursued as a criminal enterprise by the western region Department of Justice Attorney General for the Northern California Region, Melinda Haag. The city of Oakland tried to help the marijuana dispensary by filing a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, but the effort was thrown out by a federal magistrate.

Colorado Compassion Club, Denver, Colorado - Leaning on Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution which allows cannabis to be provided to self-proclaimed ill persons, the Colorado Compassion Club opened the states first unregulated marijuana dispensary. The oldest, still operating, regulated marijuana dispensary in the state would be Cannabis Therapeutics, founded in Colorado Springs in 2005 by Mike Lee.

Kind for Cures was the first shop to make national press by taking over a defunct KFC. South Park did a parody show on the now defunct store.

In popular culture

WeedWars is a 4 part reality show broadcast on the Discover Channel which highlights Harborside Health Center in Oakland California.

The third episode of the 14th season of South Park is named Medicinal Fried Chicken and contemplates a marijuana dispensary taking over a recently failed failed fast-food chicken restaurant named KFC.

Popular American comedian D. L Hughley's short lived and controversial news program on CNN ends with the artist visiting a California dispensary to treat back pain.

Setback to schools

US Department of Justice sends memo to more than 50 marijuana dispensaries operating within 1000 feet of a public school requesting they shut down immediately.

Following the Americans lead, the mayor of Amsterdam set a distance setback to grade schools requiring dispensaries who chose to remain with the prescribed setback to close when the schools are open.

Locating services

As marijuana dispensaries grow in popularity across the United States and the Americas several locating services and apps have come online. The most popular marijuana dispensary locating services are weedmaps and leafly. It is not uncommon for a regional independent newspaper who offers a marijuana dispensary locating service or map.

Industry news

MJ Business Daily dispensary news category.

References

1. Oregon.GOV website definition = Dispensaries distribute medical marijuana to patients and caregivers who are registered with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). "About the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program", medmj.dispensaries@state.or.us, Portland, OR. Retrieved on 18 January, 2016.
2. Report definition = Dispensaries are storefront facilities that provide marijuana for patients -- and in some cases, support services. Patients in parts of Canada and California have access to marijuana from dispensaries. Dispensaries might improve patient access to an adequate, safe, and consistent source of marijuana. At the same time, dispensaries can make it more difficult to secure marijuana from diversion and could lead to increased crime and federal action. Regulation may help ensure patient and public safety by deterring crime and diversion. Most patients told the department they want legal protection for dispensaries. Some comments from individual law enforcement officers indicate support for regulated dispensaries. source = Washington State Department of Health report "PatentAccess.pdf, Page 10", Mary C. Selecky, Secretary of Health , Olympia, WA July 2008. Retrieved on 18 January, 2016.
3. quoted from Colorado Department of Revenue report "This demand is supplied through various channels. Medical marijuana dispensaries and licensed retail marijuana vendors are the most obvious suppliers. However, a significant portion of demand is also supplied by medical marijuana caregivers, " "Market Size and Demand Study, Page 4", Miles K. Light, Adam Orens, Brian Lewandowski, Todd Pickton, Denver, CO July 9, 2014. Retrieved on 18 January, 2016.
4. Weedmaps.com is a community where medical marijuana patients connect with other patients in their geographic region to freely discuss and review local cannabis co-operatives, dispensaries, medical doctors and delivery services! Dispensaries and Doctors can list their services for FREE. https://weedmaps.com/about weedmaps.com Retrieved on 19 January, 2016.
5. Dispensary related news from HighTimes.com, the online version of the 40 year old cannabis culture magazine http://www.hightimes.com/tag/dispensaries High Times (magazine) Retrieved on 19 January, 2016.
6. Holland's new marijuana laws are chaging old Amsterdam
7. Owner Of First U.S. Marijuana Pharmacy Now Broke And Fighting IRS , Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, founded 1996.
8. State enacts Article XVIII of Colorado Constitution - Medical use of marijuana for persons suffering from debilitating medical conditions. https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/CHEIS_MMJ_Colorado-Constitution-Article-XVIII.pdf
9. 2004: Denver residents Thomas and Larissa Lawrence open the Colorado Compassion Club, possibly the state's first marijuana dispensary - Westword http://www.westword.com/news/medical-marijuana-timeline-what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been-5825542 Denver, Friday May 28, 2010. Joel Warner, Westword.
10. History of Washington State marijuana laws http://www.ncsl.org/documents/summit/summit2015/onlineresources/wa_mj_law_history.pdf National Conference of State Legislators
11. Colorado Springs council approves moratoriums on cannabis clubs, medical marijuana http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-council-approves-moratoriums-on-cannabis-clubs-medical-marijuana/article/1561161 Gazette.com News.Retrieved January 19, 2016
12. Colorado Springs, November 2015. World’s first pot-friendly gas station opens in Colorado.
13. Developers plan world's first marijuana mini mall for Trinidad. http://www.krdo.com/news/developers-plan-worlds-first-marijuana-mini-mall-for-trinidad/37447764 KRDO.com News. Retrieved January 19, 2016
14. 'Pot Mall' could be coming to Trinidad http://www.9news.com/story/money/2016/01/15/pot-mall-could-coming-trinidad/78871046/ 9news.com News. Retrieved January 19, 2016
15. Developer Clusters Marijuana Retail Stores in ‘Mini-Mall’ https://mjbizdaily.com/developer-clusters-marijuana-retail-stores-in-mini-mall/ MJBizDaily.com News. Retrieved January 19, 2016
16. World's First Pot Mini Mall http://potmalls.com/ Potmalls.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
17. Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/harborside-health-center-lawsuit_n_2718821.htmlCarly Schwartz,Editor Huffington Post February 19, 2013
18. "World's Largest Medical Marijuana Dispensary" December 1, 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/Weed_Wars Weed Wars, Discover Channel 2011
19. Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/harborside-health-center-lawsuit_n_2718821.htmlCarly Schwartz,Editor Huffington Post February 19, 2013
20. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22706453/colorado-medical-marijuana-businesses-have-declined Colorado medical-marijuana businesses have declined by 40 percent, Denver Post, March 3, 2013
21. https://en.wikipedia.org/D._L._Hughley_Breaks_the_News#cite_ref-1
22. Feds: Colorado medical-marijuana dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school must close http://www.denverpost.com/ci_19729288 Denver Post. January 12, 2012
23. Amsterdam Coffee Shop News http://www.amsterdam.info/coffee-shop-news/ November 25, 2013
24. http://www.westword.com/marijuana/dispensaries Westword.com, Denver's Independent Newspaper
25. http://mjbizdaily.com/category/dispensary-news/ MJBizDail.com

External links

• https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/enforcement/med-licensed-facilities
• http://www.liq.wa.gov/records/frequently-requested-lists

• Cannabis