Marijuana Business Magazine - March 2018

has been the tax benefits of bringing growers to poorer desert communities, Brooke said. Desert Hot Springs, for example has gone from a sleepy, nearly bankrupt Southern California town to a marijuana cultivation hub after local officials put out the welcome mat for cannabis businesses. It can also pay dividends to give resi- dents a chance to communicate directly with you about your operations. One way to do so would be to establish a citizen advisory board to give residents a direct line of communication to your business. “Citizens need to feel like they have a stake, so creating an advisory board that includes them seems to work well,” Moriconi said. MAKING PEACE M arijuana business owner Jaclyn Dolaway has firsthand experience at making peace with future neighbors. Dolaway founded Pure Life Wellness, a new medical marijuana dispensary in Federal Hill, one of Baltimore’s trendiest and most historic neighborhoods. She established the 1,000-square-foot dispensary in a bustling busi- ness district with no pushback from neighbors. It helped that Dolaway did her homework. Soon after she signed the lease, Dolaway contacted city council members, local delegates and state senators. They suggested she reach out to neighbors. “They encouraged us to be transparent,” Dolaway said. A friend who lives in Federal Hill had contact information for a member of the local neigh- borhood association. And because Dolaway lives in the neighborhood, she found the association’s Facebook page, providing her with more contacts. After the outreach, Dolaway and her team were asked to address a monthly meeting of the neighborhood associa- tion. She said about 50 people – mainly homeowners and renters – attended. They were “mostly intrigued” by the MMJ business, said Dolaway, noting that the attendees “appreciated that I came to them to introduce myself.” During the meeting, the audience peppered Dolaway Throw in the Towel? It’s also important to be realistic. There may be times when all the com- munity outreach in the world won’t satisfy local skeptics. Brooke said she had a “model citi- zen” client who wanted to open a med- ical marijuana dispensary in Southern California a couple of years ago. “She was a model citizen because she really wanted to help people who were seriously ill with medical mari- juana” and wasn’t motivated by greed, according to Brooke. “She also was a model citizen because she sought neighborhood input before opening and wanted to be part of the commu- nity. She was not some rogue operator who was trying to open a medical marijuana dispensary without the sup- port of the community.” The woman and her husband put together a website explaining the operation. They expected to attend a civil public hearing. However, the room ended up being packed by the members of a local church congrega- tion “who acted like [the couple] were trying to open something scandalous,” Brooke said. Her client was so upset by the outcry that she dropped plans for the dispensary. “She did everything right. I’m not sure what else she could have done,” Brooke said. ◆ Jaclyn Dolaway, the owner of Pure Life Wellness in Baltimore, used early outreach with neighbors to address questions and concerns. Photo courtesy of Jaclyn Dolaway with questions. “They wanted to know: Who can come in? Can you consume on premises? What will the storefront look like? Things like that,” she said. People attending the meeting also knew nothing about the laws and regulations sur- rounding medical marijuana, so they were interested in the process Dolaway went through to obtain a license. She told them her business was in compliance with all local zoning regulations and that she was not required to reach out to the community. But Dolaway wanted to anyway. “We tried to be respectful of our neighbors,” she said. When Dolaway couldn’t answer a question, she directed people to contact the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and local govern- ment officials. Looking ahead, Dolaway plans to keep “communicating with the neighbors on an ongoing effort.” Dolaway would advise others opening a marijuana retail outlet to “focus on the positive. You can’t con- trol how other people think, but you can educate them on everything good about this industry to change the conversation.” – John Rebchook 82 • Marijuana Business Magazine • March 2018