Even with no pun intended it is hard to ignore the thriving business environment surrounding the production and sale of medical marijuana. With MMJ now legalized in 15 states and the District of Columbia, the marketplace is expanding vigorously.
Treating a number of Ailments
MOM dispensaries
THC, the active component in marijuana has been proven to effectively treat a number of conditions. It can reduce nausea, insomnia, neurogenic pain and movement disorders and the outward symptoms of glaucoma. It could be useful in controlling the outward symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, migraines and fibromyalgia. Recent studies have indicated that THC prevents the formation of deposits of plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Of course more research is essential in determining which conditions medical marijuana can help, but even this short list is encouraging.
Not Just Smoking
Medical marijuana opponents object strongly to the most common approach to ingestion: smoking. However, there are several safer ways to ingest marijuana. Marijuana can be inhaled in a vaporized form and added to food after being processed into hemp oil. Both methods bypass the potential risks involved with any form of smoking.
Who Can Grow It?
One of the challenges to getting medical marijuana is determining who is permitted to grow it, and just how much they are able to grow. The states that have legalized marijuana for medical use have implemented standards for whether and how much marijuana an individual is permitted to grow or possess. Things are a little more complicated for dispensaries.
California allows patients and caregivers to form cooperatives to grow the plants, but a lot of the product which reaches the market is grown on small "farms" which still operate beyond your law.
Recently a large store specializing in information and supplies opened in Sacramento, CA. The store doesn't sell any marijuana, nor any plants. There are a few plants on display but they are owned by licensed individuals and will be removed before they bud.
Licensed Dispensaries
Opening a medical marijuana dispensary involves a little bit of work. In each of the states where the sale of medical marijuana is legalized the requirements certainly are a bit different. Businesses must apply for a license and offer proof that the storefront is either owned by the business enterprise or that the leaser has approved the business enterprise. Some states require a safety plan to be used, or request tax documents and so forth.
One of the biggest challenges facing these legal businesses is obtaining the full range of business services, such as merchant accounts for processing charge card sales or bank accounts, since marijuana is only legal on hawaii level, not at the federal level.
Perhaps the strongest argument that the government will respond to is the potential tax base that medical marijuana will generate. In tough economic times it is hard to show away any source of essential income.