Colorado marijuana users and the dispensaries that supply them have been on a roller coaster the past week. On March 20, Governor Jared Polis issued an executive order mandating that all recreational pot sales in the state be conducted curbside or by drive-thru and pick-up starting March 24…
— from “Booze and Weed Are the State’s Best Chances for Revenue”, in Westword magazine, March 28, 2020
The third marijuana dispensary I visited last week was Pagosa Craft, located on Putt Hill, halfway between downtown and uptown. Owner Joe Calandra had just begun a major expansion project — a 8,500-square foot office building and ‘grow’ facility — and the customer traffic was being rerouted to drive past the recently installed ‘drive-thru’ window.
As mentioned before, marijuana dispensaries in Colorado had been prohibited from selling products from a drive-thru window, but the social distancing requirements for ‘critical businesses’ soon made it obvious that — if governments were going to continue collecting sufficient tax revenue from marijuana businesses — they’d need to allow new ways for customer purchases.
The ‘new ways’ also include online ordering, and credit/debit card payments. Like the ‘drive-thru’ service, these are supposedly temporary changes to the allowable operations. But as we all know, “temporary” sometimes turns out to be “permanent”.
Mr. Calandra and I stood in the parking lot — a good 6 feet apart — and chatted about the sudden changes that took place when Governor Polis announced his list of ‘critical businesses’ that would be allowed to remain in operation during Colorado’s government-enforced ‘Stay at Home’ order. Was he feeling some anxiety, as the new rules rolled out?
“I was just rolling with the punches, doing whatever we could do to stay open, and keep my employees safe,” said Mr. Calandra, talking about the confusing messages initially coming from the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) on March 20. The new MED regulations appear, for the moment, to be temporary… for 120 days.
“I would say there was probably more anxiety among my employees.
“The requirement to shift to curbside service — it wasn’t as big a challenge as I thought it would be. What I was nervous about most was employees coming out into the parking lot, carrying cash…” New, brighter lighting fixtures in the parking lot eased some of that tension.
“And we made it to the point where we have the drive-thru now… People can order through the window, and then they come into the [store vestibule] to pay — they still don’t physically come into the store.”
As mentioned in yesterday’s installment, the MED had not allowed marijuana dispensaries to serve customers at drive-up windows, until now. Does the Pagosa Craft staff find it convenient?
“It’s been my dream since I opened this place. I asked the Town if I could have a drive-thru. It’s just super convenient. I don’t think there’s any risk involved.
“It’s faster; I think the locals like it. The tourists might prefer coming inside the store, but as far as the locals, they don’t necessarily come in the store any more…”
So how did the state government pick marijuana dispensaries as one of the ‘essential’ businesses allowed to continue operations in teh midst of a pandemic? Because it’s viewed primarily as a medicine?
“I hate to say it, but the driving force behind all of this is — I would assume — the tax revenues. Yes, the medicinal side of the equation was shared, to get [the state] onboard. But now that we’re mainly recreational… Yes, there are people who use it medicinally, to treat anxiety, to help them sleep, things like that. But if you’re going to tell people they have to stay home… and take away all their substances?”
He smiled.
“It was shocking to me to hear, at first, that we were going to have to close — and then an hour-and-a-half later we were told we didn’t to have to close — during that hour-and-a-half, our phone has never rung more than it did then. I kept telling people, we are told we have to close.”
Apparently, there was some temporary confusion in Denver that day, about which Colorado businesses were truly ‘critical.’
“It was really interesting,” he smile. “I just kept pacing around, wondering what we were going to do, and how this was all going to play out — and then a new order came out an hour-and-a-half later, that all of a sudden liquor stores and dispensaries were allowed to stay open.
“Yeah, it was a whole swing of emotions, in a very short time.”
“I wish it didn’t take a pandemic to allow things that we’re doing now, you know. I wish we could have a drive-thru; I wish our customers could order online. Before this, people couldn’t order online.
“Now, people place an order online, they walk in and the order is ready. They show us their ID and they’re out the door. It’s way more convenient for everyone. It shouldn’t take a crisis to make people open their eyes.
“The biggest challenge is keeping my employees happy, and everyone safe, and sane, and understanding why we’re all here… We could have closed our doors and let our employees go on unemployment. We had conversations about it, and I think we made the right decision so far. Everything seems to be going well…”
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.