Owners of the Mancos medical marijuana shop, Bud Farm, say they hope to be open for retail business by March.
Although the retail classification will expand its customer base, owner Jim Cody says his business won't be dropping its medical license.
Cody and his wife, Lea, purchased the medical dispensary, formerly Willow North, in November.
"Many are dropping medical and only retaining recreational. We're not doing that," Cody said. "We are going to stay with medical for the long-term."
According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, medical marijuana sales dropped nearly 17 percent in November compared with the previous month. Recreational sales, however, remain strong.
In a small town like Mancos, building a strong medical patient base to fully sustain the business is difficult, Cody said. He became an advocate for the healing effects of medical marijuana after hip and knee replacement surgery and said he loves helping people find relief through various products.
Although he and manager Kathy Smith say sales haven't been adversely affected by the town's new retail location, The Shop, Cody affirms that selling retail would help sustain the medical side of the business.
"It's about $15,000 for two licenses with the state alone, one for sales and one for the grow site," he said. "By the time you add that up, in a small town such as this, it makes it difficult to do only medical."
Until the retail license is in place, Cody and his staff are selling medical patients on their recent third- and fifth-place wins at the Telluride Cannabis Cup, held on Dec. 14. Cody credits his grower Ian Smith, and "trim queen" Mattie Sim with securing the victories.
"We took third out of 20 for our AK Northern Lights and fifth out of 20 for our White Kryptonite," said Cody.
Bud Farm is located at 385 N. Willow in Mancos.