Two months after Oregon legalization, pot saturation sends profits up in smoke

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Along North-east Sandy Boulevard in Portland, Oregon, there’s a stretch known as the “Green Mile”. Here, medical marijuana dispensaries are budding. Almost two years ago, when Matt Walstaller opened Pure Green in the area, there was only one competitor. Today there’s close to 10.

In the beginning business was booming, recalled Walstaller. But last autumn, Pure Green’s traffic started to slow.

“Then we looked at the numbers. There was a couple thousand new medical cardholders, but two or three times as many stores as there had been the year before,” said Walstaller.

In Oregon, 76,723 patients are listed as medical marijuana cardholders. Over 12,000 of them are in Portland, where 136 publicly listed medical dispensaries are located – that’s roughly 80 patients per dispensary. Yet the state’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program continues to accept applications for new licenses, with more than 200 still pending.

Oversaturation and shaky business plans have...

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