Hey everyone! We are glad to have you here for another episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast! This week, Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Matthew Ward talk with Jeff Starling, an owner of The Source. The Source is a one-stop-shop for the highest-grade medical marijuana in the state. Their pledge is to create a high-end, seamless experience that enhances the patient’s journey to healing and leaves them feeling cared for. In this episode you will get to hear about changing attitudes around medical marijuana, thoughts around full legalization, the impact COVID has had on the weed supply chain, and innovation in the weed industry. We are happy to have you here with us!
Shownotes
(1:12) Introducing The Source and Jeff Starling
(3:03) Opening a business in a highly regulated industry
(4:56) Marijuana as medicine
(7:16) Changing the stigmas about medical marijuana
(10:57) A surprising client base
(12:25) Preparing for the full legalization of recreational marijuana
(14:26) Staying above board in the medical marijuana industry
(18:09) What’s next for The Source
(20:07) Marijuana quality in Arkansas compared to other states
(25:53) How Issue 3 can affect the future of legalized marijuana
(29:50) Jeff gives advice to his younger self
(31:39) Wrapping up
Links
Quotes
“There was some resistance to us opening our location in Bentonville, cause everybody thinks it’s going to bring crime and, you know, this counter-culture attitude, and it’s just going to be a sore-spot… To be honest, it was already here. People can just be more open about it, and everybody’s paying taxes on it now. So the attitudes are definitely shifting.” (7:20)
The powers that be in Arkansas did not want this, they didn’t. They made every hurdle and bit of red tape to go through in order for anybody to get approved here. But, the people voted. The people spoke. This is what they wanted. This is how our government is supposed to be set up. That we, as the people, have the right to put things on the ballot that we want to see voted on.” (26:07)
“I think that when you start to see these small towns get this industry moving in and all the sudden there’s tax revenue and jobs, and again, the economics become way more important. You’re going to start to see people’s eyes are opening up.” (27:41)
A Conversation Around Medicinal Marijuana in Arkansas
For many people, the budding medical marijuana industry in Arkansas is an unknown commodity. Whether their uncertainty is rooted in the industry’s short history of legality, its validity as a legitimate medicine, or quite simply a lack of previous exposure, many people have been surprised by the industry’s immediate success.
The Startup Junkies Podcast talked with Jeff Starling of The Source, a medical marijuana dispensary in Bentonville, Arkansas, and he was able to shed some light from inside the industry. In his eyes, the stigma about cannabis is changing, and the industry needs to be preparing for the future of recreational marijuana.
Changing the Stigma
While it may be surprising to some, Jeff says that one of the largest portions of his regular client base is 55 to 70-year-old women. He credits much of his unanticipated clientele to the already changing stigma about medical marijuana. By legalizing pot and making it available in edible varieties rather than just smokable forms, many people can set aside their preconceived notions of marijuana as morally wrong, harmful, or criminal.
“I think that when you start to see these small towns get this industry moving in and all the sudden there’s tax revenue and jobs, and again, the economics become way more important. You’re going to start to see people’s eyes are opening up.” (27:41)
One thing that has helped change the stigma of cannabis is its taxation. Previously sold illegally and untaxed, it now provides money for chronically underfunded departments and resources. Similarly, the extreme regulations that are placed on the industry add to its legitimacy. Cannabis is closely monitored from the time it is grown from seed to the time it is sold to a customer. With this, there is absolutely no room for the skimming of product or for introducing illegally grown marijuana into dispensaries.
“There was some resistance to us opening our location in Bentonville, cause everybody thinks it’s going to bring crime and, you know, this counter-culture attitude, and it’s just going to be a sore-spot… To be honest, it was already here. People can just be more open about it, and everybody’s paying taxes on it now. So the attitudes are definitely shifting.” (7:20)
Preparing for the Future
With attitudes towards marijuana changing rapidly, Jeff says that the industry needs to prepare earnestly for the future. The supply chain will need to continue to develop and adapt to new regulations, laws, and systems that law-makers put in place. As for Jeff’s business, he plans to get in on every piece of the industry that is legally offered to him. Jeff sees profit in the growing industry, and he plans to take advantage of that.
Recreational marijuana is already legal in several states (11, as well as Washington, D.C.). The federal government could likely follow suit if more states continue to legalize it. Government officials in a traditionally red state may not have wanted medical marijuana to be legalized, but citizens’ effort got the issue on the ballot. Jeff expects that this will happen again.
“The powers that be in Arkansas did not want this, they didn’t. They made every hurdle and bit of red tape to go through in order for anybody to get approved here. But, the people voted. The people spoke. This is what they wanted. This is how our government is supposed to be set up. That we, as the people, have the right to put things on the ballot that we want to see voted on.” (26:07)
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