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Going to Pot: Retailers weigh risks, rewards of entering the newly legal marijuana business.

Writer's picture: Melissa Vonder HaarMelissa Vonder Haar

By Melissa Vonder Haar

Originally ran in CSP Magazine, December 2012

First convenience magazine coverage of cannabis


Years from now, retailers may look back on the 2012 elec­tion as a game changer. Not because of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, not because of any local or state measures, certainly not because of Presi­dent Obama’s re-election.


Rather, 2012 may be remembered as the year things went to pot. Literally.

With voters in Colorado and Wash­ington approving legalization of com­mercial marijuana (vs. only for medicinal purposes), retailers there could be adding joints at the checkout area.


Will the move truly affect c-store operators? With only two states legalizing marijuana—and yet to write the rules on exactly how and where it can be sold—it’s too early to tell. And, of course, there’s the federal ban against marijuana that may ultimately overrule state rights.


Still, it’s worth exploring this issue fur­ther. With Colorado’s legalization efforts pioneered by The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, it’s easy to envi­sion the alcohol- and tobacco-driven c-store channel as a natural market for this

“new” product.


“The stars are certainly aligned, and I think the convenience channel makes the most sense, provided the legislation permits it,” says one multistate retailer, with stores in at least one of the legalized states. Because of the uncertain nature of this conversation, he requested to remain anonymous. “We are already battle-tested in terms of our ability to validate other age restricted items, like alcohol and tobacco, so in theory, this would be no different.”


It’s all speculative at this point, but with economist Stephen Easton esti­mating legalized marijuana could be an industry of $45 billion to $100 billion per year, has the time come for retailers to speculate about going green?


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