DIAZ-RIVERA: Owner of Better Days Delivery, Michael Diaz-Rivera, stands at the entrance of a customer’s apartment complex while calling the customer about an apartment number for a marijuana product delivery in Denver on Nov. 27, 2024. Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post/Tribune News Service
DIAZ-RIVERA: Owner of Better Days Delivery, Michael Diaz-Rivera, stands at the entrance of a customer’s apartment complex while calling the customer about an apartment number for a marijuana product delivery in Denver on Nov. 27, 2024. Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post/Tribune News Service
The day before Thanksgiving, Michael Diaz-Rivera was delivering goods to customers in the snow and cold, more focused on “Green Wednesday” than Black Friday.
Diaz-Rivera, who contracts with Denver cannabis stores, estimated he and his drivers could make about 25 deliveries if people stayed inside for the day. Green Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, is typically the second-busiest day of the year for the cannabis industry, he said.
The busiest day is April 20, or 4/20, the unofficial marijuana holiday long before legalization by states across the country.
Diaz-Rivera relished the prospect of a full day. He started Better Days Delivery Service in January 2021 and began expanding his business as marijuana sales in Denver and Colorado started to decline. Grants and technical assistance from city and state programs have helped him and others tackle the challenges facing the industry.
‘Fighting to stay alive’
“I already applied for a grant again this year. If I don’t get it, my chances of staying in business are less than likely,” Diaz-Rivera said. “But I’m fighting to stay alive.”
City officials are concerned about the impacts of the so-called marijuana recession on fledgling delivery businesses tailored to give opportunities to people from disadvantaged backgrounds or with past marijuana violations.
Denver’s cannabis delivery licenses are permanently restricted to people who qualify under the city’s social equity program. Diaz-Rivera qualified because he grew up in a low-income area and was convicted of felony marijuana possession in 2006.
“What we’ve really been focusing on for the past few years in Denver is trying to bring more equitable access to the industry,” said Eric Escudero, spokesman for the city’s Excise and Licenses office.
The city’s social equity guidelines also apply to owners of dispensaries and cannabis manufacturing and cultivation facilities. Denver hoped a delivery business would provide a more affordable pathway for people trying to break into the industry.
“We recognized that there were a lot of people who were disproportionately impacted by prohibition” of marijuana and weren’t benefiting like others after legalization, Escudero said.
People of color were disproportionately arrested and convicted, he added.
Social equity program
People with marijuana violations on their records struggled to enter the business after legalization due to federal priorities preventing criminals from profiting from cannabis. This led to rules excluding people with a criminal history from obtaining licenses, according to a report detailing Denver’s social equity program.
The program also applies to those whose family members were arrested or convicted. It offers advice on business plans, training, site visits and significantly reduced license application and renewal fees.
“The fact that weed is still illegal federally means people can’t go to a bank, get a loan and start a business,” Escudero said.
Getting a foot in the door
Legislation allowed Colorado communities to approve permitting for retail marijuana delivery starting in January 2021. Denver’s first licensed deliveries occurred in October 2021.
Other cities allowing cannabis deliveries include Northglenn, Aurora, Boulder, Longmont and Thornton, said Truman Bradley, head of the Colorado-based Marijuana Industry Group.
In 2022, Denver updated its regulations to encourage more participation in cannabis-related businesses. In January 2023, there were 1,165 deliveries totaling $94,241.74 in sales. By March, deliveries rose to 1,246, totaling $105,732.89.
However, the trend has mostly declined, hitting a low of 631 deliveries for $50,524.29 in October. Deliveries rose slightly in November to 667, marking the first increase since January.
Overall, Colorado is experiencing a marijuana recession, Escudero said.
Medical marijuana was legalized in 2000 in Colorado. In 2014, the state became the first place to legalize recreational marijuana sales. Statewide sales grew annually, peaking during the COVID-19 pandemic when combined medical and recreational marijuana sales reached $2.2 billion in 2021.
Statewide sales were $1.52 billion in 2023 and $1.06 billion through September this year. Escudero attributed the downturn to factors including inflation, industry growing pains and competition from other states legalizing cannabis.
“In the early days of legalization, people traveled to Denver for the cannabis experience,” Escudero said. “Now that legalization has spread across the U.S. like wildfire, that could be one reason we’ve seen sales go down in Denver and Colorado.”
24 states and the District of Columbia allow recreational marijuana use. 14 states allow medical use only.
Denver is monitoring marijuana sales, tax revenue and the delivery business. Escudero said the city has issued 23 delivery licenses, but only 14 are active.
Only 13% of Denver’s 188 cannabis locations have delivery permits. Dispensaries must contract with licensed delivery companies as they cannot make deliveries themselves.
“This recession in the cannabis industry couldn’t have hit at a worse time for these delivery businesses,” Escudero said. “We’re hoping that once the industry pulls out of this, some delivery companies will survive.”
The type of person we’re trying to help
Diaz-Rivera’s journey from felon to businessman began at 19. After graduating high school, he was living out of his car.
“I was selling weed as a way to survive,” said Diaz-Rivera, now 39.
In 2006, while driving on a Friday night, Diaz-Rivera was pulled over near Colorado Springs. He was arrested on charges of felony marijuana distribution and pleaded to felony possession. He served a few months in jail, paid $3,000 in restitution and worked at a family fun center, the only job he could find after his arrest.
He earned an associate degree from Pikes Peak State College, transferred to Metropolitan State University of Denver and became a teacher despite initial challenges due to his felony record.
“Growing up in school, I was always a knucklehead: getting expelled, getting suspended,” Diaz-Rivera said. “As a teacher, those kids gravitated toward me because I understood them.”
Feeling burnt out
Diaz-Rivera began feeling burnt out teaching during the pandemic. “I was a new dad, trying to figure things out. I wasn’t being paid enough and wasn’t happy,” he said.
He learned about Denver’s social equity program for aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs.
“And I was like, ‘That’s my ticket to send my kids to college if I’m not going to be a teacher,’” he recalled.
Escudero said Diaz-Rivera is the type of person Denver’s program aims to help. “He’s turned his life around, and he’s trying to run a successful business while facing really challenging times.”
Diaz-Rivera works with five dispensaries and employs three drivers who are trained in the regulations and security measures required for the job. He reduced his drivers’ hours after a “stagnant” summer but remains optimistic about the recent slight increase in deliveries. He said people appreciate the convenience of having food, clothing and other items delivered to their doors.
“So it only makes sense for us to get our weed delivered as well.”
Diaz-Rivera said some dispensaries resist delivery services, fearing it might cut into their business. When customers visit a store, there’s an opportunity to upsell them, he said.
Escudero suggested another reason deliveries haven’t gained traction: With 188 stores in Denver, many people don’t need to walk or drive far to purchase cannabis.
Curtis Washington, owner of the Green Remedy dispensary, said he isn’t worried about delivery affecting his sales. “People have access to your website so they can see what you have to sell. The only thing you’re missing is that local salesperson trying to upsell them.”
Even then, daily limits on purchases and customers’ budget constraints cap sales, Washington said.
Washington uses a delivery service partly to support Denver’s social equity efforts. He qualified for the program because a family member was arrested on a marijuana charge.
Diaz-Rivera said Denver’s program and the state Cannabis Business Office have provided valuable technical assistance, help with business plans and access to resources. In a statement, the state office said it has supported social-equity licensed businesses through more than 3,500 hours of education, 66 grants that helped create and retain nearly 300 jobs, 55 new businesses and seven loans supporting 18 jobs.
“The governor’s Nov. 1 budget proposal includes ongoing funding to continue this important work,” the office said.
Continuing social equity programs is crucial, Diaz-Rivera said. His arrest hurt his family financially and made it harder for him to find work and housing.
“There’s been a lot of harm from the war on drugs,” he said.
Repairing that harm benefits the people affected and strengthens the overall economy, he added.
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