Laboratories that specialize in pot testing. Security companies that only guard dispensaries. Chefs that just make edibles for medical marijuana patients. Businesses that cater to cannabis are starting to flourish.
"There are all kinds of companies out there," said Lanny Swerdlow, a medical marijuana patient and advocate from Whitewater. "When you go to a collective, there are pill bottles, pipes ... If there's a market, someone takes advantage of it."
Collective Protective Services, based in Chino, focuses on providing security for cannabis clubs. It started with three employees in 2010 and now has 100 that protect more than 60 collectives across Southern California, including Desert Organic Solutions, a legal dispensary in north Palm Springs.
KC Azubuike, president of Collective Protective Services, started working unofficially as a security guard for dispensaries in Riverside about six years ago. The 24-year-old's company is now booming. He's branched across state lines, securing his first contract in Colorado last week, and plans to expand and move headquarters to Los Angeles.
Read more at The Desert Sun