City of Pueblo pot business heading in the right direction

Pueblo City leaders say the pot industry is continuing to grow after a slow start, however, they don’t expect to see many more recreational marijuana dispensaries inside the city any time soon.

Dispensaries began legally selling in the city back in July of last year, and city officials say things started slow.

However, there has been a need for expansion at some of the shops. 404 Dispensary introduced a second floor back in April because the lines on weekends were simply too long for them to handle without the extra space.

“We’ve had to expand because business has been booming,” said Heather Montelongo, who has been working for 404 Dispensary since they first opened their doors in August of 2017.

Since then she’s only seen growth. When it comes to the marijuana industry so has the city.

From July to December of 2017 the city collected approximately $178,000 in sales tax.
So far this year, that number is approximately $562,500 dollars.

When the city first issued licenses to sell marijuana recreationally, many came forward, but only eight were issued, and Montelongo hopes it stays that way.

“Pueblo isn’t necessarily a big town, and when you have so many dispensaries you are saturating the market,” said Montelongo. “Issuing more licenses wouldn’t doing us any good, or the community any good.”

Much of the marijuana industry’s future in Pueblo depends on who will be the city’s next mayor. The final two candidates both like where the city’s marijuana industry stands today.

“It’s certainly not my intent any time in the near future to expand the number of licenses,” said Pueblo Mayoral candidate Steve Nawrocki, who was city council President when the first dispensaries opened their doors in Pueblo. “If the current dispensaries are going to be in business, I want them to be successful.”

“Do we need more licenses? I don’t know the answer to that,” said fellow Mayoral candidate Nick Gradisar. “It doesn’t seem to me that there is a big demand for that. We’ve put a cap on eight licenses, four north of the river and four south of the river. My own preference would be let the market decide.”

So far, eight licenses have been issued but only six shops are operational in Pueblo. The Pueblo City Clerk says the final two dispensaries could open as early as next month.