How pot and hippie beer explain the future of the American economy

Oregon's breweries and dispensaries offer lessons for how policymakers might nurture a small-business comeback.

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — At first, Jon Turner was just a software guy who really liked to brew beer. He cooked up two batches a week in his kitchen and kept his hard-drinking friends well supplied. He once brewed one pale ale over and over for a year to get it just right. In 2011, at a national conference of home brewers, he fell under the spell of a panel called “Going Pro.”

This is how Turner came to cash out a large chunk of his retirement savings and launch a 16-tap brew pub on the shores of a private lake in a swanky suburb south of Portland. He and his co-owner, Tim Schoenheit, have kept their tech jobs and worked nights, weekends and assorted off hours to bring their 80-employee operation, Stickmen Brewing, to the...

Rate this article: 

This marijuana news is brought to you by 420 Intel. For the latest breaking cannabis industry news, subscribe to the 420 Intel newsletter. If you'd like to promote your product or service in this area after every article, contact us.