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State lawmakers are about to give medical marijuana dispensaries a huge economic windfall: the chance to sell weed to all adults starting Oct. 1.
But first, dispensary owners will have to give a taste to Portland City Hall.
A document produced by the city's Office of Neighborhood Involvement shows city officials will begin taking applications Sept. 1 for a permit that will be handed out to "existing medical marijuana dispensaries interested in selling recreational marijuana through Dec. 31, 2016."
Sources in City Hall say the permit will likely cost $1,500. Victor Salinas, the city's marijuana policy program coordinator, tells WW officials haven't finalized the price—but confirms it's probably between $1,000 and $1,500.
WW reported in March that Portland planned to require a $1,500 permit for recreational pot stores. That's 15 times what a bar or pub pays the city for a liquor license.
Office of Neighborhood Involvement officials have said the city would use permitting dollars to track "neighborhood public safety and livability concerns."
As state lawmakers hatched a plan to allow medical dispensaries to sell to all adults starting Oct. 1, Portland officials adjusted their own strategy.
The city began preparing the temporary permit even as the bill that allows early weed sales was still in the Oregon Legislature. (The bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Kate Brown.)
Dispensaries are likely to pay whatever the city asks. Business owners tell WW the medical marijuana market has become glutted, leaving dispensaries with an acute need for new customers—which they'll get under the state's plan.
"I know a lot of dispensary owners who are breathing a lot better," says Meghan Walstatter of Pure Green Gardens in the Hollywood neighborhood. "Honestly, I don't know how you survive without [early sales]."
WWeek 2015