Steve Ackerman interview, part 2
Linda Meyer: Okay, we'll start part two here. So the-- some of the differences between the D.A.R.E. program and the...
Steve Ackerman: I got it.
Linda Meyer: Made it more difficult for you there...
Some of the differences between the D.A.R.E. program and the program that you're working with now is maybe enlightening--
Steve Ackerman: It's to... It is not to say that you can't do it. It's saying know what you're doing. Linda Meyer: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Be aware.
Steve Ackerman: It's not saying that this should be... I think that the D.A.R.E. program was almost on the fringe of being prohibitionist. Or it would have given the choice.
Linda Meyer: Trying to convince kids that not having anything to do with alcohol or drugs is... Steve Ackerman: Right. Yeah. The problem with the D.A.R.E. program I think was that kids are smarter
than that, and they see that all of the scary outcomes that are taught by the D.A.R.E. program don't necessarily come to pass. If they did, then nobody would have any parents.
Linda Meyer: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay.
You mentioned that you grow your own marijuana. Do you also sell products in your dispensary that come from other growers?
Steve Ackerman: Yeah, we have gotten stuff from other growers. We primarily buy all of our edible forms and salves and things like that. We don't make those things. We just retail them.
Linda Meyer: So what you sell of what you grow is basically the plant that-
Steve Ackerman: What we produce is flower or bud and we produce concentrates, which are called hash and some...
Linda Meyer: So you have the facilities to make the concentrates, but not to make the drops and all the other things that are involved.
Steve Ackerman: Well, we just don't... Yeah.
Linda Meyer: Okay. And so are these products that you buy from within the United States or where do they come from?
Steve Ackerman: Everything that is sold in Colorado has to be made in Colorado. So there is no provision for out of state or interstate sales of marijuana or trafficking in it. So that's how that is. It's a closed loop inside the state.
Linda Meyer: Mm-hmm (affirmative). All right.
You had mentioned other activities that your establishment has been involved in that participate in the Fort Collins community as a whole. I think was it the New West Fest that you had a lot going on here where this other--
Steve Ackerman: Well they have a stage right out in front of my store and this is the main stage. We actually... The store closes at its regular closing time. This side that we're in now, last year I used it as a fundraiser for Team Wellness and Prevention. We charged people to be out on our patio watching the headliners and we set up a bar and we're selling drinks.
Linda Meyer: So do you have a nonprofit organization associated with your business or were you just donating the funds to Team Wellness?
Steve Ackerman: Yeah, no. It was just a straight fundraiser for Teen Wellness and Prevention. Linda Meyer: Okay. Of your clientele, I'm assuming probably 10% might be medical marijuana
purchasers?
Steve Ackerman: That sounds about right.
Linda Meyer: Okay. And 90% are retail purchasers. Steve Ackerman: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Linda Meyer: And what do you see happening as far as marijuana in the next decade? I mean, certainly things have been changing a lot since... in the past decade. So do you feel like it'll just-
Steve Ackerman: That's a good question. I don't have that answer. Linda Meyer: Don't know exactly what will come up.
Steve Ackerman: No, I think that Colorado has done a very good job, compared to just about any other state that has instituted it. The Colorado model has worked pretty well. And where we've seen problems like in Oregon having an oversupply, California is overtaxed, and the barrier to entry into the business is too difficult.
So what it's done is it just has a really enhanced the black market- Linda Meyer: Mm-hmm (affirmative)- in those states.
Steve Ackerman: Well, in this state. In Oregon, with an oversupply, what it does is it just makes it not a profitable business because supply and demand goes into effect and it becomes not profitable.
Linda Meyer: So you're saying here in Colorado the black market has been enhanced because it's difficult for people to break into the business?
Linda Meyer: Oh in California.
Steve Ackerman: I'm saying in Colorado, Colorado has its own problem, which every state will have, that is that because marijuana is legal to some degree in the regulated model, it gives cover to people that grow illegally because you know you can smell marijuana growing and you can and you can transport small amounts of it. People can go buy it at the store. So people come to Colorado to grow marijuana to move to other states.
Linda Meyer: Oh. To do it illegally. Okay.
Steve Ackerman: Yeah. The black market is... The marijuana that's grown for the black market in Colorado isn't sold in Colorado, for the most part. People in Colorado prefer the dispensary model.
Linda Meyer: Prefer to buy it legally.
Steve Ackerman: Well it's all been-- it has to be tested for potency, pesticides and contaminants. Linda Meyer: So who--I assume it's a state agency that does the testing-- or do you have to do the
testing?
Steve Ackerman: We have to do the... We have to pay for the testing. Linda Meyer: So you have an entity …?
Steve Ackerman: We bear that expense, yes. But they are regulated.
Linda Meyer: Okay. So you just send the results to the state showing that you've had the test? Steve Ackerman: No, the lab sends them to the state. So if we send something in for testing, the
information is no longer ours alone. It's belongs to the state. Linda Meyer: Yeah, but you have access to it too.
Steve Ackerman: Oh yeah.
Linda Meyer: And the labs are the labs that the state tells you to use? Or are there different- Steve Ackerman: No, you can only... I mean, you can pick who you want to use, but they all have to be
licensed by the state as well and certified. And-
Linda Meyer: So your testing is done by state-certified labs. You send a sample of your product to them, they do the testing and you know-
Steve Ackerman: Get a result. Linda Meyer: Get a result. Okay.
Steve Ackerman: So anyway, the customer gets the benefit of that... Of knowing that the product has been tested and certified and he also... Or the customer also gets to buy it in a safe environment where you're not going into somebody's house, you’re going into a
licensed facility that's under cameras. And in the community, community benefits because nobody can buy that doesn't have a valid ID that says they're 21 years of age or over. And the other end of it is that the regulated... having these stores basically makes the black market people-- it doesn't make it worthwhile for them-
Linda Meyer: Right. It's not profitable for them.
Steve Ackerman: To grow it. So the kids aren't getting it from them either. Linda Meyer: Yeah. Because I guess I would say that-
Steve Ackerman: That's the theory anyway.
Linda Meyer: Yeah. The one idea is that the kids might still be buying it from black market folks. The people that are legally--
Steve Ackerman: But they've got to know somebody and those people few and far between. They're really-- I mean really the black market as far as I can tell, you know, what we
understand-- is people that are growing large quantities to ship out of state. They're not risking selling it to individuals that could possibly get them in trouble.
Linda Meyer: Right. And it's just so much easier for people to buy it legally here now, for those, like as you say, you know why would they buy it-
Steve Ackerman: So if you're under 21 and you've gotten marijuana, you probably have a friend that's over 21 that bought it for you or you got it from your parents who left it laying around. Linda Meyer: And that does happen. But part of your education effort seems like it's directed towards
responsible use. Steve Ackerman: Yep. Lock it up. Yeah.
Linda Meyer: Okay. Well, can you think of anything else you'd like to comment on related to the marijuana industry here in Colorado or-
Steve Ackerman: Just that, like I said, I think Colorado has done a very, very good job in setting up the regulatory model and I think that other states would really have done better by
following our model rather than inventing their own thing. It continues to be refined, it continues to get better and that's about it.
Linda Meyer: You think it will get any easier for people to break into the business in Colorado in the future?
Steve Ackerman: Well, breaking into it in Colorado just depends on what community you're in. And in Fort Collins there are a limited number of licenses.
Linda Meyer: So they set a cap on the licenses, and so-
Steve Ackerman: Yeah, that formula I told you we wrote in the ordinance, one per 500 medical marijuana patients or the number of places that were licensed when it was shut down, that are able to come back.
Linda Meyer: So it really can't grow-
Steve Ackerman: Actually that number was larger. The one per 500 there would have been nine and I think there's 10 or 11. There's 10 open and maybe an 11th one out there.
Linda Meyer: Yeah. So it really can't grow here in the city unless they change the ordinance.
Steve Ackerman: Correct. And same thing with the county. The county commissioners have to say that we want to open it up to more people, and I don't see either board deciding to do that anytime in the near future.
Linda Meyer: Okay. Well thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me. Steve Ackerman: You bet. Yeah, sorry it took so long.
Linda Meyer: Oh, it didn't take long at all.
Steve Ackerman: No, I'm talking about to finally get me to return your phone call. Linda Meyer: Well, I'm glad that we got an interview here.
