The Portland Business Journal reports that a failure to provide recreational licences in a timely manner in Portland is costing the industry $22mm a month, according to Beau Whitney of Whitney Economics. Fewer than 6% of applicants had been licensed as of December 5th, and there is a potential for major shortages as the rules change on January 1st, with recreational sales ending at medical dispensaries. The cost of licensing, at more than $10,000, is also a burden local cannabis businesses are bearing.
The city of Portland and Office of Neighborhood Involvement have developed such a bureaucracy in its marijuana licensing process that it is literally driving the applicants out of business.
Beau Whitney
Whitney points to the potential loss of revenue for the state and city as well, with the Oregon potentially missing out on $1.3 per month and Portland facing a loss of $232,500 per month.
Read Pete Danko’s “Portland’s cannabis licensing logjam could cost businesses $22M a month”: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2016/12/13/portland-s-cannabis-licensing-logjam-could-cost.html
