Marijuana production comes down to a question of the availability of industrial zoning. Denver is the poster child, but other cities are seeing similar trends.
"As one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, Colorado has become a laboratory for the regulation and licensing of the cannabis industry," according to an article by Charlotte West. "Due to industrial zoning requirements, most of Denver's grow operations have been concentrated in low-income, predominantly minority neighborhoods."
The result of this consolidation of marijuana uses in low-income, minority neighborhoods hasn't been a spike in crime, as many legalization opponents feared. Rather, the effect has been a spike in commercial rents.
The phenomenon has not been limited to Colorado. From California to Maine, the marijuana industry has fueled a boom in the commercial real estate market. Property owners have been able to charge above-market rates for tenants operating in a grey area between state and federal law. As a result, property values—and property taxes—in surrounding areas have soared.
The article includes more details about the neighborhoods in Denver where these effects are most pronounced. West also describes the industrial zoning that enables the trend. Reports of marijuana business locating in Denver's minority neighborhoods date back to 2016, much sooner after legalization became law.
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