In the state of Oregon, where marijuana for recreational purposes was legalized just over a month ago, there are already more retail marijuana shops than there are McDonald’s or Starbucks.
According to Oregon’s Health Authority, there are 281 marijuana businesses in the state due to the fact that there was already a vast network of medical dispensaries there. When legalization kicked in, these dispensaries were able to quickly repurpose themselves as retail outlets. This allowed the industry to grow much quicker in Oregon than it did in Colorado or Washington.
In Oregon, there were over 250 medical marijuana dispensaries that were immediately able to sell to recreational customers, while in Colorado there were just 24 retailers open on the first day of legalization — and Washington had only four.
In fact, in Oregon, the cannabis industry is already becoming as visible as major fast food corporations, with more locations in the state than both Starbucks and McDonald’s. They have 248 and 205 locations, respectively.
