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Eyes Wide Open: What Entrepreneurs in the New Recreational Marijuana States Can Learn From Colorado’s Marijuana Industry
By: Jeffrey Friedland
The approval of ballot initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada has elicited a level of jubilation that continues to run high, despite the disappointment by many with the outcome of the presidential election. The legalization of recreational marijuana in California, which has the world’s sixth-largest economy, is seen by many as a watershed event in the global legalization and decriminalization of cannabis.
This new recreational marijuana industry in these four states creates tremendous business opportunities for existing participants already operating medical marijuana businesses. It also provides an opening for thousands of entrepreneurs and a profusion of new investors. But, there are challenges. Some of these challenges are similar to those faced by most start-up or early-stage businesses in other industries. Other challenges are more specific to the marijuana industry.