Page 37 - BusinessWest April 1, 2024

“You try not to
be the cheapest on the block because that turns into a whole downward spiral. So you try to have competitive pricing and
give people a good customer experience.”
industry in Massachusetts doesn’t hap- pen in other sectors, he added. “People don’t talk about us the same way they talk about other businesses, like restau- rants, liquor stores. It’s really an open market, a lot of competition. And people are competing. I don’t know that we’re hitting the limit.
“There’s still a lot more legal cannabis dollars that haven’t been realized yet,”
he added, citing, again, potential from
a massive group of users who currently buy from unregulated sources. “But I don’t think businesses are doing poorly as a whole. I don’t think prices are crash- ing as much as people suggest. I don’t necessarily see that happening as bla- tantly as they’re describing it. Businesses still have a lot of growth potential.”
At the end of the day, he added, dis-
pensaries have to offer what people
want, and that requires staying ahead of
the curve. “There are always new, inno-
vative things coming out in the market.
You have to stay up on what’s happening,
and with market prices. You try not to be the cheapest on the block because that turns into a whole downward spiral. So you try to have competitive pricing and give people a good customer experience.”
Like all other cannabis entrepreneurs, Vianello hopes for the eventual end of the disconnect between state and federal drug laws that have posed onerous burdens on business owners, from IRS Section 280E, which forbids business owners from deducting oth- erwise normal business expenses, to hardships around banking, transportation, and other activities.
“That has to happen at some point. I think it’s going to happen. But I don’t think anyone knows when. It’s been right around the corner for years,” he told BusinessWest, acknowledging, like many have, that cannabis is legal for well over half the U.S. population,
The interior of the Holyoke dispensary is, like other Dazed shops, resplendent in pink.
Photo by Dazed Cannabis
and bipartisan support exists for decriminalizing cannabis, but law- makers always seem to have other concerns with which to contend. “We just act accordingly within the rules in place,” he added. “But we know, if it happens, it will open up a lot of things for a lot of
people. We need to have all the same rules and regulations as all busi- nesses, the same oppor-
Dazed
Continued on page 39
>>
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