The Actual Reason Why Denver Won't Become the Silicon Valley of Marijuana

A group of 60 or so investors looking to buy into the burgeoning legal marijuana industry met with entrepreneurs in Denver on Tuesday. Despite the fact that recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado, "90 percent" of the investors at the event "won’t be able to invest" in Colorado-based businesses, says Steve DeAngelo, head of ArcView Investor Network. "The investors are here," DeAngelo says. "They want to do the deal. But the deal can’t be done because Colorado law won’t allow it."

DeAngelo is the executive director of Harborside Health Center, arguably the most resilient medical marijuana dispensary in California, and cofounder of the ArcView Group and ArcView Investor Network, both of which are vehicles for angel investments in the marijuana industry.