The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority considers medical marijuana a “sin business,” akin to liquor stores, massage parlors, casinos, and tanning salons. And that designation helps limit the number of dispensaries that can be financed across the state.
The agency, which provides funding for small businesses in addition to affordable housing, has created more uncertainty in the industry for investors like former software developer Mitch Woolhiser and his wife, Eva, a dental hygienist.
The couple owns Northern Lights dispensary in Edgewater, and after making upgrades to their shop, the two may have to relocate, reports Face the State. CHFA notified the couple’s landlord that the dispensary is in violation of the property’s mortgage agreement.
While Woolhiser doesn’t “see many options going forward,” Robert Pooler, the owner of Doctor’s Orders dispensary, intends to sue Colorado Springs police for what he alleges is the illegal seizure of $14,000 (via the Gazette).
After pulling Pooler over, an officer discovered a bag of money that Pooler, of Denver, was depositing into a Springs bank account, likely because many national banks are closing accounts for dispensaries, fearing they could be violating the law.