Marijuana Business Magazine August 2019

August 2019 | mjbizdaily.com 107 he quaint resort community of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, has fewer than 7,000 residents. But in the state’s first three months of adult-use marijuana sales, Theory Wellness, the town’s first dispensary, sold more than $6 million in cannabis products. That’s double what the company’s CEO, Brandon Pollock, predicted when Massachusetts transitioned from a medical to a recreational market. The shop’s surge in sales can be attributed to a strategy that has become more common in the burgeoning cannabis industry: plotting retail operations near state lines. Located roughly 10 miles from Massachusetts’ border with New York, Theory Wellness saw more than 50,000 customers make purchases during Harmony dispensary, pictured at top, in Secaucus, New Jersey, and the Green Solution in Trinidad, Colorado, both are located near state lines. Courtesy Photos Opening a marijuana retail outlet near the border of a neighboring state is one way to attract clientele eager to stock up on their favorite cannabis products. But given the federal illegality of marijuana, dispensary owners will want to make sure customers have been advised about the risks of taking their purchases back home. If this situation applies to your business, consider the following: • Some retailers located near state lines say up to half their customers hail from out of state. • It’s incumbent on businesses to educate consumers about all laws that prohibit crossing state lines with marijuana. • Have out-of-state customers sign a waiver acknowledging that you told them about applicable state and federal laws. • If you are operating a medical marijuana business, look into your area’s reciprocity laws to learn whether you can legally sell to out-of-state clientele. • Invest in identification books and scanners to make sure your customers’ IDs are real.