How Are Colorado's Border Town Dispensaries Doing?

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Dear Stoner: Are border towns with dispensaries still big in Colorado, like Trinidad?
Felix

Dear Felix: Let's pull out the marijuana map and take a look: Arizona and New Mexico have already legalized recreational pot, while Oklahoma has a very liberal medical marijuana program. There's more to cannabis tourism than serving Texans and Arizonans escaping the heat, though. Colorado cannabis prices are among the cheapest in the country, so it's not uncommon to see dispensary shoppers drive for hours across borders to stock up, even from legal states.

click to enlarge

Towns in southern and western Colorado have embraced commercial cannabis more than those on the eastern and northern borders.

Scott Lentz

Dispensaries in towns like Fort Collins, Las Animas and Sedgwick have undoubtedly profited from their proximity to Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska, respectively, but local governments in southern and western Colorado have embraced commercial cannabis more than those on the eastern and northern borders. Trinidad, a short drive from New Mexico, has seen a few stores close over the last year as dispensary sales across the state have dipped, but the town still boasts around twenty dispensaries for a population of fewer than 10,000. Dinosaur, a town near the Utah and Wyoming borders, has four dispensaries and around 315 residents. Long story short: Border towns are still pushing lots of pot, even if the money isn't as good as it was.

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