Reporter

And so inevitably, you know, some of those folks didn't have enough demand and they were going to fail.

And so inevitably, you know, some of those folks didn't have enough demand and they were going to fail.

Colorado levies a 15% marijuana sales tax and a 15% excise tax on marijuana. And then Pueblo County tax on another 5% excise tax and a 6% sales tax. And then if you have a cannabis business that's in the city of Pueblo, you're going to pay an additional 10% excise tax, which is one of the highest in the state.

Colorado levies a 15% marijuana sales tax and a 15% excise tax on marijuana. And then Pueblo County tax on another 5% excise tax and a 6% sales tax. And then if you have a cannabis business that's in the city of Pueblo, you're going to pay an additional 10% excise tax, which is one of the highest in the state.

Colorado levies a 15% marijuana sales tax and a 15% excise tax on marijuana. And then Pueblo County tax on another 5% excise tax and a 6% sales tax. And then if you have a cannabis business that's in the city of Pueblo, you're going to pay an additional 10% excise tax, which is one of the highest in the state.

There was definitely, you know, some lobbying on behalf of some of the local businesses saying, you know, these taxes are too high and that's why all these businesses are failing. And if you, you know, were to remove this tax, then we would actually be able to thrive and we would be able to compete.

There was definitely, you know, some lobbying on behalf of some of the local businesses saying, you know, these taxes are too high and that's why all these businesses are failing. And if you, you know, were to remove this tax, then we would actually be able to thrive and we would be able to compete.

There was definitely, you know, some lobbying on behalf of some of the local businesses saying, you know, these taxes are too high and that's why all these businesses are failing. And if you, you know, were to remove this tax, then we would actually be able to thrive and we would be able to compete.

One of the unexpected things for Pueblo was that everybody sort of thought, well, if we legalize this stuff, the illegal stuff will go away, right? I mean, why would they bother? Not only did that not happen, but the law enforcement there said that it actually got worse.

One of the unexpected things for Pueblo was that everybody sort of thought, well, if we legalize this stuff, the illegal stuff will go away, right? I mean, why would they bother? Not only did that not happen, but the law enforcement there said that it actually got worse.

One of the unexpected things for Pueblo was that everybody sort of thought, well, if we legalize this stuff, the illegal stuff will go away, right? I mean, why would they bother? Not only did that not happen, but the law enforcement there said that it actually got worse.

And one of the reasons was that when there's all this legal marijuana around, it's a little bit easier for the illegal marijuana to hide. Why was there so much illegal dealing? Well, what people didn't anticipate is that if you are in the illegal marijuana market, you can charge less. I mean, it's a really simple economic argument, right?

And one of the reasons was that when there's all this legal marijuana around, it's a little bit easier for the illegal marijuana to hide. Why was there so much illegal dealing? Well, what people didn't anticipate is that if you are in the illegal marijuana market, you can charge less. I mean, it's a really simple economic argument, right?

And one of the reasons was that when there's all this legal marijuana around, it's a little bit easier for the illegal marijuana to hide. Why was there so much illegal dealing? Well, what people didn't anticipate is that if you are in the illegal marijuana market, you can charge less. I mean, it's a really simple economic argument, right?

If you're not paying for sales tax, excise tax, marijuana sales tax, county tax, city tax, state tax, you can charge way less than the legal competition. And so they continued to thrive under the legal regime.

If you're not paying for sales tax, excise tax, marijuana sales tax, county tax, city tax, state tax, you can charge way less than the legal competition. And so they continued to thrive under the legal regime.

If you're not paying for sales tax, excise tax, marijuana sales tax, county tax, city tax, state tax, you can charge way less than the legal competition. And so they continued to thrive under the legal regime.

They told me that for a long time, they were pulling in something like $20,000 a day in sales. And since then, it's plummeted to about $2,500 a day in sales. They've also shed some employees. And so one of the things that happened is Sticky Icky's owner, in the time that I was talking to him, decided to pull out his stake

They told me that for a long time, they were pulling in something like $20,000 a day in sales. And since then, it's plummeted to about $2,500 a day in sales. They've also shed some employees. And so one of the things that happened is Sticky Icky's owner, in the time that I was talking to him, decided to pull out his stake

They told me that for a long time, they were pulling in something like $20,000 a day in sales. And since then, it's plummeted to about $2,500 a day in sales. They've also shed some employees. And so one of the things that happened is Sticky Icky's owner, in the time that I was talking to him, decided to pull out his stake