Seven Colorado Cannabis Companies That Have Grown Across State Lines

Starbuds started in Denver and has expanded into Jamaica. Scott Lentz

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As the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, Colorado has earned its reputation as the United States' unofficial cannabis state.

While other states have passed laws legalizing cannabis since Colorado led the way with the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012 — recreational cannabis is now legal in eleven states and Washington, D.C. —Colorado continues to be a trendsetter. And one of those trends involves Colorado-born businesses now moving into other states.

Here are seven Colorado dispensaries native to the state that have grown their business to other states and even one foreign country.

Starbuds
Shortly after recreational cannabis sales began in January 2014 in Colorado, dispensary chain Starbuds opened its first location in the state. Today there are thirteen Starbuds locations in Colorado, and the chain has eight medical dispensaries beyond this state, including one in Oklahoma, one in Baltimore and one in Kingston, Jamaica.

Euflora
Calling itself "The Apple Store of Cannabis," Euflora opened its first boutique recreational dispensary in Colorado in 2014. Euflora now operates five locations in Colorado and has expanded into Apple's home state of California, with one dispensary in Long Beach. 

Good Chemistry
Good Chemistry got its start in Colorado in 2010 as a medical marijuana company, and in 2014 began selling recreational products. Currently, Good Chemistry has four medical and recreational dispensaries in metro Denver and one in Worcester, Massachusetts, where CEO Matt Huron has family roots. The company also plans to expand into Nevada, and already has licenses for medical and recreation cannabis cultivations there.

click to enlarge

Terrapin Care Station's first dispensary opened in Boulder in 2009, before recreational sales began.

Scott Lentz

Terrapin Care Station
Terrapin Care Station began in 2009 as Boulder’s first medical marijuana grower and distributor. When recreational cannabis was legalized, Terrapin expanded into the non-medical sphere, opening six locations across Colorado from 2014 through 2018. The company first crossed state lines in 2017, when it received a medical marijuana growing/processing license and opened a cultivation facility in Avis, Pennsylvania. This past June, Terrapin opened another medical growing/processing facility, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company’s application to grow recreational marijuana in Michigan is now under review.

High Level Health
High Level Health opened in 2009, offering medical marijuana to Colorado patients. After recreational cannabis was legalized, it expanded to include non-medical use. There are now four Colorado High Level Health dispensaries, as well as three dispensaries in Michigan, which legalized medical use in 2008 and recreational use in 2018.

Kind Love
Another company that began in Colorado's medical marijuana trade is Kind Love, founded in 2010. The medical marijuana company has one location in Denver selling both recreational and medical cannabis, and two locations in Tulsa that sell only medical products.

Silver Stem Fine Cannabis

Silver Stem Fine Cannabis began in 2008 with dispensaries and products under various names; they consolidated under the current brand name in 2014. Today, Silver Stem operates one medical dispensary and six locations with recreational cannabis in Colorado, as well as one recreational store in Portland, Oregon.