美国国家公共电台 NPR--Colorado's nearly $2 billion marijuana industry finally has had a bad year

Colorado's nearly $2 billion marijuana industry finally has had a bad year

Transcript¹

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Colorado's cannabis industry had a hard year. Sales boomed during the pandemic to more than $2 billion statewide, but a post-pandemic decline has seen prices drop by more than 20%. Ben Markus of Colorado Public Radio reports on how some growers are coping.

BEN MARKUS, BYLINE²: Just off the freeway in north Denver, among shabby-looking warehouses⁴, the slight smell of marijuana on the streets signals that this is the city's de facto marijuana farmland. It's freezing and dry outside. But inside one of these warehouses, it feels tropical - warm and bright and humid, filled with tall green plants. This operation is owned by Matt Huron of Good Chemistry Nurseries.

MATT HURON: You're looking at my 401(k) right now (laughter).

MARKUS: It is not cheap to build one of these. But much to his chagrin⁵, Huron is now competing with a bunch of new grows. It all started when the pandemic lockdowns led to a boom in demand. For the first time, legal cannabis sales hit $2 billion in Colorado in 2020. Investment rushed into every level of the industry but especially grows.

HURON: Everyone saw the lines around the corner. Cannabis is pandemic-proof, right? Well, you know, it takes - you know, it takes a good year and a half to build one of these things.

MARKUS: But by the time they opened, vaccines⁶ had become widespread. Pot lost some of its appeal, as people weren't just sitting at home streaming Netflix anymore. Huron and the other Denver growers saw what was happening, and they pulled back production. But at the same time, counties all over Colorado had already approved new grows, like out in rural Crowley County, where Roy Elliott is a county commissioner⁷.

ROY ELLIOTT: It's still a pretty sore subject in the county.

MARKUS: Colorado lets governments ban marijuana businesses, and like most rural counties, Crowley initially⁸ didn't allow grow houses.

ELLIOTT: Being mostly right-leaning county, a lot of people aren't too fond of marijuana grows.

MARKUS: But it's only got 6,000 residents, half of whom are inmates⁹ at the local private prison. In 2016, Crowley OK'd pot farms. But nothing materialized until the pandemic, and almost overnight, it became the eighth-largest-producing county in Colorado.

ELLIOTT: It hit that boom after COVID, and I think too many people got into it.

MARKUS: Now Elliott says some of those grows are closing permanently¹⁰, and many are still sitting on a lot of marijuana that hasn't hit the market yet, which means the supply glut¹¹ will last into 2023. Christopher Stefan is a real estate broker¹² who specializes in cannabis. He says that's bad because consumer demand never bounced back.

CHRISTOPHER STEFAN: You know, Black Friday used to be a big day for us, and it hit with a thud.

MARKUS: Marijuana tax collections have fallen by more than $90 million this year. It funds everything from school construction to addiction¹³ treatment. Stefan says during the pandemic, businesses were expanding rapidly, courted by big money investors¹⁴. Now they're unraveling.

STEFAN: And now you're meeting with lawyers all day, and you're fighting your partners and your best friend.

MARKUS: Back in Denver at Matt Huron's grow warehouse³, he says marijuana has become like the hypercompetitive restaurant industry, where some will do well...

HURON: And then there's, like, a gazillion other guys that open up a restaurant, and they're out of business in a year. And that's really what the cannabis industry is now.

MARKUS: And just like a restaurant, Huron hopes to distinguish his Good Chemistry stores by focusing on quality, on proprietary¹⁵ marijuana he spent years cultivating, appealing to the discerning customer.

For NPR News, I'm Ben Markus in Denver.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

4 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

5 chagrin   

n.懊恼；气愤；委屈

参考例句：

• His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
• Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

11 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

12 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

13 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 proprietary   

n.所有权，所有的；独占的；业主

参考例句：

• We had to take action to protect the proprietary technology.我们必须采取措施保护专利技术。
• Proprietary right is the foundation of jus rerem.所有权是物权法之根基。