In Los Angeles, the medical marijuana fight is still blazing. Last Spring, LA passed a measure to regulate the pot shops that had been popping up across the county. The intent of proposition D was to regulate and tax medical marijuana businesses.
This limited the number of dispensaries allowed in Los Angeles to 135. This allowed all dispensaries that had operated since September 2007 and had previously registered with the City. This also increased the city tax on mmj businesses from $50.00 to $60.00 per $1,000 of gross receipts.
Proposition D's Impact
This coming March medical marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to register their businesses in Oregon! Last month, the Oregon Health Authority posted their final rules update on state-wide dispensary regulation. This is great news for Oregon, since currently, dispensaries have not been regulated and business owners are not protected. In language the rest of us can understand, here's everything a dispensary owner would want to know about opening a medical marijuana business in Oregon and the new rules update.
1. Applying for your Dispensary License
On March 3rd, 2014 at 8:30 am the Oregon Health Authority will begin accepting applications to register your dispensary online through: mmj.oregon.gov.
Your Application
- Competing applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis
- All applicants must be an Oregon resident
- No one who has been convicted of a drug offense in the past five years will be allowed to register a dispensary
- People with more than one conviction are permanently banned from operating a dispensary
Steps:
- Fill out your application thoroughly and completely, as soon as they become available on the Oregon Health Authority's website. Be ready to include application fees, fingerprint cards, and all information needed for a criminal background check.
- Submit your application online.
- OHA will review each application for completeness. If your application is incomplete it will be returned, you can resubmit your application anytime but they will not reserve your application's place.
- If you plan on registering more than one location, you must submit separate applications per location and pay separate application fees per location.
Application Fees
Fees may be returned if application is returned, incomplete or denied. Or if an applicant withdraws an application.
Requirements for dispensary locations:
- Dispensaries may not be within 1,000 ft. of a school
- Dispensaries may not be within 1,000 ft. of another dispensary
- Dispensaries can only be in commercial, industrial, or agricultural areas
- Registration of a facility does not protect against possible criminal prosecution
- Your facility must be registered as a business or have a pending file to register as a business with the Office of the Secretary of State before you submit your application
2. Updates for Operating your Dispensary
At Cafe Cartel we work closely with our clients, get to know their business operations and needs and work to deliver the right point of sale solution. Check out some of our recent case studies!
McCrite Plaza Retirement Community’s Business Expansion with Cafe Cartel
McCrite Plaza is a family owned and operated retirement community in Topeka, Kansas that has built a reputation on caring. They have an in-house movie theatre, a pool table and a pub. Their restaurant-style dining room, The Waterford Room, has become a cornerstone for their residents acting as a dining hall and dancing hall for McCrite holiday events. Recently McCrite decided on expanding their dining options to provide more variety to their residents and make them feel more at home. With their expansion in mind they wanted to test out a reputable point of sale in The Waterford Room.
What is a high risk merchant account?
A high risk merchant account is a credit card processing service for businesses in industries that are deemed "high risk." Since dispensaries are considered high risk agencies, they are not eligible for a standard merchant account. A high risk account allows you to still process credit cards. However, the merchant service opens the account on your behalf.
Businesses that are considered high risk:
- Businesses that may not be registered with local regulatory agencies
- Industries that are considered high risk: downloadable software, gaming, health shops, dispensaries, e-cigarettes, real estate, etc.
- Businesses with low volume of sales and are therefore unable to afford fraud screening tools or make payments to 3rd party processors.
Cost for high risk accounts
When compared to standard merchant providers, high risk credit card processing is more expensive in terms of transactions fees and charges. This is because merchant credit providers assume the risk for credit processing. Because the dispensary industry has higher risk associated to it in terms of legislation inconsistencies when it comes to marijuana, there will be higher fees.
Do You Need a High Risk Merchant Account?
With the extra costs and time invested into a "high risk" merchant service you might consider running an all cash operation. Unfortunately, running your business this way can dramatically cut into your bottom line.
The Benefits of Credit Card Processing for your Dispensary:
What is Movember:
“During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of millions of moustaches on men's faces around the world. Through the power of the Mo, vital funds and awareness are raised to combat prostate and testicular cancer and mental health challenges.”
Movember begins November 1st where men pledge to go the entire month of November without shaving their faces in order to raise awareness about men's health issues. Along with not shaving their faces many events and fundraisers are held. This is an fun and awesome opportunity for your brewery to get involved.
Why?
The growing men’s health issues in the United States are becoming too startling to ignore:
- 1 in 2 men, and 1 in 3 women, will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
- 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.
- Over 238,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed and almost 30,000 men will die of prostate cancer in 2013.
- Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in males between the ages of 15 and 35.
- 7,920 men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer and 370 will die in 2013.
- For more statistics check out the Movember Men’s Health Website.
Not only is fundraising a good way to give back but it’s great for business! Starting a fundraising campaign in your brewery can open you up to new branches of your community and reach out to some niche customers that may not have heard about your brewery before.
Also, It’s fun! Many breweries across the country have already pledged or planned fundraising opportunities to get in on the moustached action.
How?
Come up with an idea.
Step number one will be to come up with something that you, your employees and your customers alike will enjoy getting involved in. Get creative and have fun with it! Greg Koch, Stone Brewery CEO, with a notoriously epic beard, is hosting a “Shave the Date” event in San Diego where he and other local Mo Bros (Movember Bros) will have their faces clean shaven on stage. They’ll also take this opportunity to register Mo Bros and Sisters to pledge towards the charity.