Marijuana Business Factbook 2019

228 Marijuana Business Factbook 2019 Chapter 5 | Financial & Operational Data: Retailers © Copyright 2020, Marijuana Business Daily , a division of Anne Holland Ventures Inc. You may NOT copy this Factbook, or make public the data and facts contained herein, in part or in whole. For more copies or editorial permissions, contact CustomerService@MJBizDaily.com or call (720) 213-5992, ext. 1. Colorado and Washington state ― two of the most mature markets in the United States ― fall in the middle of the regulatory spectrum. Colorado has no licensing cap, while Washington’s cap is high. In both states, the number of licensed retailers is beginning to level off. Licensing fees are modest, and the environment is competitive. While these two markets have many similarities, a striking difference is that Colorado allows vertical integration while Washington does not. Some markets are more distinct than others. Florida and Oklahoma, for example, represent opposite ends of the regulatory spectrum. Florida tied the number of allowed medical marijuana dispensaries to the number of registered patients, permitting each vertically integrated license holder an additional five dispensary locations for each 100,000 patients enrolled in the program. Although the state currently has more than 100 dispensaries, ownership is concentrated among a handful of retailers ― many of whom are multistate operators ― because the initial number of licensees was limited to 14. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has no caps on the number of medical marijuana businesses allowed ― retail or otherwise ― and some of the lowest licensing fees in the nation. This has resulted in a Wild West scenario with more than 1,000 retail licenses issued through early 2019 ― though not all licensed retailers are actually in operation at this point. Oklahoma’s business-friendly environment was meant to encourage competition, but there will likely be attrition among retail license holders, as the size of the the state’s market is unlikely to support this volume of retail outlets.