Since recreational marijuana sales began in January of 2022, I reached out to Grizzly Pine dispensary owner, Elliot Lindsey, to see how sales have been since the legalization and the openings of more dispensaries around town.
Lindsey opened up Grizzly Pine about six years ago because he thought there needed to be a better option for those in need of marijuana.
“I was a cardholder back when it was [only] medical," says Lindsey, "I felt like there was a lot that could be improved upon in the retail setting.”
He says once recreational marijuana was legalized, sales began to really take off.
“It was pretty instantaneous growth right at the beginning of last year, and it's kind of stayed that way,” says Lindsey.
Recreational sales have surpassed medical sales according to Lindsey, and he's even seeing fewer medical cards.
“One of the things that we did definitely notice is over time, even though there's a tax savings for medical patients, a lot of people seem to not be renewing their cards,” says Lindsey.
Twenty-nine out of 56 counties in Montana allow adult-use recreational marijuana. With taxes increasing on marijuana sales, we asked Bozeman police about illegal sales and use.
“For people who are under the age of 21, we do run into that for those folks who are in possession of marijuana,” says Patrol Captain Joe Swanson, "It would be difficult for us to be able to track it in terms of if we stopped somebody, they had under an ounce. As long as they're 21, we don't ask where they purchased it from.”
When I searched online for Bozeman dispensaries, about 20 stores came up. When I asked Lindsey about the effects of the growing competition, he says business is still doing well.
“There's so many [dispensaries] that have opened so quickly. We're still definitely doing a lot better than we were a year ago,” says Lindsey.
