EAGLE — Dieneka Manzanares wants everyone to know that the family business is open, legal and doing fine.
Dave Manzanares, Dieneka’s husband, owns Sweet Leaf Pioneer, a medical and recreational marijuana operation in Eagle. That business has operated for a number of years.
In January, the owners of the Denver-based Sweet Leaf dispensaries were sent to prison for a year after pleading guilty to illegally selling and distributing marijuana. The offense was allowing multiple cases of “looping.” Under state law, a customer can only buy one ounce of marijuana every day. Looping is when the same customer buys the maximum amount more than once per day.
The Sweet Leaf chain was shut down and lost its 26 retail, cultivation and manufacturing licenses.
While Sweet Leaf and Sweet Leaf Pioneer have similar names, there’s no connection between the businesses. Still, Dieneka Manzanares said the Eagle business has been receiving a lot of calls over the past couple of weeks. Those calls have come from both concerned friends and others who want to know if the Eagle business is still in operation.
“I don’t feel like we have (lost business),” Manzanares said. “We’ve just been having to explain ourselves a lot.”
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Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at smiller@vaildaily.com or 970-748-2930.
