Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft executive, wants to create the Starbucks of marijuana.
From CNET News:
His idea, as he explained to the Seattle Times, is to buy his own dispensaries in pot‐friendly states such as Washington and Colorado and begin his long march toward a branded fortune.
His company is to be called Diego Pellicer–this a homage to Shively’s great‐grandfather, who was once governor of Cebu in the Philippines.
His plan is to import from Mexico. Indeed, former president of the country Vicente Fox appeared with Shively at a Seattle news conference Thursday (video at the link).
Fox said at the news conference: “What a difference it makes to have Jamen here sitting at my side instead of Chapo Guzman.” Guzman is one of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords.
There is a problem: until the federal criminal law on marijuana is repealed, the climate is especially risky for investors in such an enterprise.
For Cato work related to the drug war, go here.