A “ganjapreneur” (ganja + entrepreneur) is a capitalist who sells ganja (marijuana) legally to medical marijuana patients. “Colorado’s Marijuana Economy: An Explosion of Ganjapreneurship” was the title of an August 2009 article in The Atlantic. “Ganjapreneurs are cashing in on Colorado’s booming medical pot business” was the title of a September 2009 article in the weekly Westword (Denver, CO).
 
The term “ganjapreneur” has also appeared on T-shirts.
 
 
Urban Dictionary
ganjapreneur
An American capitalist profiting from the recent pseudo-legalization of marijuana in the U.S. by opening up a dispensary that sells the plant in smokeable form to registered medical marijuana patients. With low overhead and endless demand for their product, ganjapreneurs — as opposed to less successful entrepreneurs — have almost a zero percent chance of their business failing through typical channels. Used recently by Atlantic Monthly and Denver Westword magazine to describe marijuana retailers in Colorado, but can refer to any legal ganja shopkeeper in America.
“Colorado’s Marijuana Economy: An Explosion of Ganjapreneurship”
—Atlantic Monthly headline from August 2009
“Many (medical marijuana dispensaries) are operated by what insiders are calling a ‘second wave’ of ganjapreneurs ...”
—Denver Westword magazine, September 2009
by greenblazergolf.com Jan 15, 2010
 
The Atlantic
Colorado’s Marijuana Economy: An Explosion of Ganjapreneurship
By Christina Davidson
AUG 26 2009, 3:00 PM ET
(...)
Even though it passed the medical marijuana amendment nearly a decade ago, Colorado is just now entering a phase of transition that embraces that legal reality. The longtime lucrative blackmarket in a forbidden agricultural product is being legitimized—all the financial transactions that used to flow underground are now being raised to the taxable surface, creating a new era for an ancient industry, and fertile ground for ganjapreneurial start-ups to sprout like new shoots of Cannabis sativa. 
   
Westword (Denver, CO)
Marijuana
Cash Crop: More on Colorado’s booming medical-marijuana business
By Joe Tone Wed., Sep. 9 2009 at 2:15 PM
In this week’s Westword, Joel Warner reports on the “ganjapreneurs” cashing in on Colorado’s booming medical-marijuana business. In it, he explores the growing number of dispensaries and offers an introduction to the Candy Girls, a team of marijuana edible bakers operating out of a rented apartment north of Denver.
 
Westword (Denver, CO)
Ganjapreneurs are cashing in on Colorado’s booming medical pot business
By Joel Warner Thursday, Sep 10 2009
(...)
Many of these are operated by what insiders are calling a “second wave” of ganjapreneurs — savvy, experienced businesspeople and professionals. Some honed their chops running ventures that have nothing to do with marijuana; others are opportunists from the heady California dispensary scene who see a new market ripe for investment.
 
New York (NY) Times
ADVERTISING
Using Marijuana Stores to Market Food
By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN
Published: November 4, 2009
(...)
Among the 14 states with medical marijuana laws, Colorado has experienced particularly brisk growth in the stores. From fewer than two dozen dispensaries in the state in January, there are now more than 60 just in Denver and nearby Boulder, and more than 10,000 registered medical marijuana patients statewide, according to reports in Westword, a Denver alternative weekly.
 
When Westword announced recently that it would hire a registered patient to write reviews of the dispensaries (for a column called “Mile Highs and Lows”), it received 400 applications, according to Patricia Calhoun, its editor. And dispensary owners — called ganjapreneurs in a recent headline in the weekly — are placing ads, accounting for nearly seven pages of advertising in a recent 92-page issue.
 
Yahoo! News
Ganjapreneur loses in U.S. Tax Court over marijuana business
By Patrick Temple-West | Reuters – Wed, Aug 15, 2012
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Tax Court has ruled against a San Francisco medical marijuana seller, snuffing out his business expense deductions, in a decision highlighting the cannabis business’s legal limbo.
 
eBay
Ganjapreneur T-Shirt, New (S-4XL) (500S) weed marijuana
Last updated on Oct 09, 2012 09:07:05 PDT