Donald Morse looked at a former coffee shop in Oregon City when he was planning to open his medical marijuana dispensary. The rent was $3,500 and Clackamas County officials had at the time placed a moratorium on the sale of medical marijuana inside county limits.

Morse passed, deciding he'd rather have a more stable business location.

A year later, he noticed the spot was on the market again. For the rights to the lease and a medical marijuana retail license, the seller wanted $1.2 million. The price sounded absurdly high.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Pot is big business. In just a week, Oregon retailers sold more than $11 million of marijuana, and on Saturday hundreds flocked to the Oregon Hemp Convention to find out more.

The issue of legal, safe access for those who want to sell and use marijuana was one of the main topics. Russ Belville of Portland NORML said one of the biggest concerns in the state is the rights of consumers and the disparity in availability between the east and west sides of the state.

In Portland, there are at least 100 regulated outlets to legally buy pot. But customers who live in Ontario, Oregon are at least 4 hours away from a legal shop.

The first week of recreational marijuana sales in Oregon resulted in over $11 million dollars worth of marijuana being sold according to several media outlets. I’m not sure where that number is being pulled from, but regardless of how close to the exact dollar amount the figure is, I think that we can all agree that Oregon medical marijuana dispensaries sold A LOT of recreational flower since sales started on October 1st. I read an article on the Oregon Cannabis Connection website that did a great job of highlighting calls from activists for using this new found source of revenue to help low income Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) patients.

Colorado’s first week of sales reached $5 million while Washington didn’t hit $2 million until after the first month. Those dispensaries can sell recreational products until December. 31, 2016, at which point all recreational sales will fall under the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s regulations and will take place at OLCC-licensed retail stores.

Maybe it used to, but these days marijuana retailers face more competition than ever.

During the Measure 91 campaign, economic firm EcoNorthwest projected that the state would bring in .5 million in new revenue the first year while the state of Oregon projected a more modest $9 of net revenue. Washington had just four, and a year later, still has fewer than Oregon.

If a public referendum on does pass 13 months from now legalizing recreational pot in California, the bills enacted this week could help smooth the state's transition to legalization, and being prepared to roll out retail sales in an orderly manner could pay very real dividends.

The owner of Main Street Marijuana in Vancouver says he's not anxious about competition from Oregon's new law, despite taking a 10 percent hit in sales last week. Those dispensaries can sell recreational products until December. 31, 2016, at which point all recreational sales will fall under the Oregon Liquor Control Commission's regulations and will take place at OLCC-licensed retail stores.

PORTLAND, Ore. — What if we legalized marijuana and no one really cared?

That's the overwhelming feeling I get standing inside Zion Cannabis in downtown Portland as customers buy marijuana from the friendly staff  five days after legalized marijuana legislation went into effect Oct. 1.

No muss, no fuss.

Oregon has clear advantages that make it the perfect test state for the recreational marijuana movement. However, that still doesn't guarantee that marijuana businesses will succeed.

Lately it seems as if the marijuana movement reaches a new milestone just about every week. Last week it was Oregon officially becoming the third state in the country to allow adults ages 21 and up to purchase marijuana for recreational use. Alaska also legalized recreational marijuana sales in the November 2014 election, but it hasn't given legal shops the OK to begin selling the drug as of yet.

Ooooh that smell, can’t you smell that smell? Ooooh that smell, the smell of . . . . money.

On October 1, Oregon became the third state to legalize the recreational sale of marijuana.

According to the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association, Dispensaries in Oregon sold a staggering $10.8 million worth of recreational cannabis in under a week!

Recreational sales were formally legalized at the beginning of the month, and the association has only tallied revenue through October 6. A spokesperson for the retail group projected that sales will “wildly surpass” the state’s projections.

Currently customers are limited to one-quarter ounce per day, for now, but seed sales are unlimited.

ONTARIO -- In just one week, it's estimated that recreational marijuana sales in Oregon will total more than $11 million.

The Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association says 247 stores have sold millions in marijuana, much higher than the expected revenue.

Right now, marijuana sales are not allowed in Ontario, Nyssa, and Vale since they have a ban in place.

The mayor, police chief and superintendent in Ontario are all standing behind that ban on dispensaries, which means they won't see any of the tax benefits from the sales.

They say that's okay - and believe no amount of money is worth the possible affect on the community.

The sales aren't taxed yet, but in January, they will be - at 25 percent.

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