Am I just dreaming?

[generalchaos]

I currently live in michigan (americas toilet), and I work a dead end low paying job, have a $40,000 degree that is less useful then a piece of toilet paper, and cant find anything better in the job market (not even a single phone call for an interview in 2 years).

Some friends and family of mine were taking serious consideration into moving to colorado (maybe cali but odds more to colorado) because my cousins wife got offered a very nice 6 figure job there, and they asked me if I wanted to come with them.

So this got me thinking, pretty much the one thing in life that I excel at and actually enjoying doing (even if its really laborious) is growing MJ, and I can sure grow some A+ hydro.

Would it be a pipe dream to think that I could move to colorado and do this for a living? Is the demand still there or are there so many people doing it now dispensaries wouldnt even want to buy it? I hear cali has to much supply these days, but ive also heard you could move 20lbs in a day easily (although that is a bit much).

I would love to do this whole thing legitimately, pay taxes and all that but when I try to research how to do this, there is so much gray area it just gets me more confused. Opening a dispensary would be nice but I think thats too much overhead right now, so I would stick to supplying them. Im not trying to do anything huge here but if I can make 30-50k a year I think I can live quite happily.

I guess basically im just really confused and dont know where to look for information on this, so any input from people doing it would be appreciated, or a phone number to someone I could call and talk to about it.

almost forgot, ive read something about possible changes to colorado law in 2010? anyplace for details on this or should I wait and see what happens?

thanks

generalchaos Reviewed by generalchaos on 12-14-2009. Am I just dreaming? I currently live in michigan (americas toilet), and I work a dead end low paying job, have a $40,000 degree that is less useful then a piece of toilet paper, and cant find anything better in the job market (not even a single phone call for an interview in 2 years). Some friends and family of mine were taking serious consideration into moving to colorado (maybe cali but odds more to colorado) because my cousins wife got offered a very nice 6 figure job there, and they asked me if I wanted to Rating: 5

[hachiman6677]

Yeah im thinking along those same lines. Gonna keep lookin to see what comes up. Id love to suply dispensaries or become one myself as soon as im able.

Love growing MJ and playin in the dirt!:thumbsup:

Hope your dream comes true! Cause my dream is the same lol dont awnna get rich just make ends meet and smoke every day and make other peoples lives as happy as mine:hippy:

[RAINHAZE]

...sorry to copy/paste, but this seems to be whats going on alot lately. I would love to return to Co and try my luck as well.
We had the 1849 Gold Rush, now I believe we're seeing the 2009 Green Rush!




La Veta, Colorado (CNN) -- The crop has been harvested, and Diane Irwin's secret technique paid off.

"Every morning I would go out and talk to my girls," she said, "pray over them and ask them to provide good medicine."

Her "girls" are marijuana plants destined for her son Jason's medical marijuana dispensary in Denver. At 48, she has just wrapped up her first season as a pot farmer. Her 62 plants yielded 13 pounds.

Irwin spent most of her life as a hairdresser and salon owner in a Denver suburb.

"I was into makeup and high-heeled shoes and fancy clothes and working -- a lot," she said. "I sold my salon and moved down to the country. I wanted a change of pace."

While Mom was looking for a midlife career change, her son was building a medical marijuana business, legal in Colorado since 2000. Diane Irwin loaned him $10,000 from the sale of her salon, and he opened Highland Health, a dispensary where patients who have been certified by the state can buy marijuana.

Jason Irwin concedes he began his marijuana enterprise on the wrong side of the law, "just getting cheap pounds and flipping them to my friends," he said. He was working full time as an arborist and dealing pot on the side when he saw an opportunity to take his business aboveboard.

In 2008, he received state approval to open his dispensary. In March, he got a patient's card, citing chronic pain after a fender-bender. He smokes marijuana often.

The medical marijuana business has boomed in Denver during the past year. Jason Irwin's dispensary was in place early, building clientele long before many of the newcomers arrived.

He has about 200 regular patients, he said, and another 500 who come by from time to time. He employs four "bud tenders" and said he grosses about $5,000 a day.



Interactive: Taking your medicine But it's not always easy to keep the pot in stock. Though the dispensaries are legal in Colorado, the laws are vague about growing cannabis. Legislators want to clarify the regulations, but until then, the dispensaries are getting their marijuana through unconventional routes.

"The connections are underground. They're not mainstream at all," Jason Irwin said. "We can't call the growers union. There is no such thing.

"Instead of placing your order through a typical system ... you get a dude who comes down from the mountains and slaps a duffle bag on your desk. It's full of weed, and he's like 'Here, pick what you want. Do you want any?' And you've got to dig through it, inspect it for yourself, make sure it looks kosher, weigh it, pay thousands of dollars. It's all cash at this point."

See the different ways to take marijuana

Jason Irwin wanted to see those thousands of dollars stay in the family instead of going to the mountain dudes. Enter Mom.

"He called me one day and he said, 'Mom, I think we should buy this land' and 'How do you feel about growing medical marijuana?' And I said, 'OK.' It was just a faith thing."

Jason Irwin bought 37 acres in rural southern Colorado, tucked up against the Greenhorn Mountains. That's where his mom's new life began.

In June, they paid $3,000 for two greenhouses, supplies and marijuana seedlings. Diane Irwin lived in an old camper and tended the plants.

"It was like an Outward Bound course for me," she said. "Living off the grid, roughing it. We didn't have heat. We didn't have running water. We didn't have electricity most of the time. The batteries were always going dead. The greenhouse blew away a couple of times."

But at least she had company: First-time marijuana farmers occupy the plots of land on both sides of the Irwin operation. The trio formed an ad hoc collective, helping each other and learning from their mistakes. They spent their days tending to their plants and their evenings grilling food along a nearby river.

One of the trio's concerns was security. Their greenhouses are visible from the road and they worry about being robbed or hassled by police. So far they have had no trouble, but if one grower needs to go into town for supplies, the others keep a watchful eye.

I'm in for the long haul. I really do feel like we're pioneers bringing new life to medical marijuana.

--Diane Irwin on growing marijuana with her son
RELATED TOPICS
Medical Marijuana
Denver
By early November, the plants were ready to harvest. The Irwins filled several SUVs and pickup trucks with their crop and moved to a house they rented in nearby La Veta.

A closet in the house is filled with marijuana that is drying out. The radio is set to NPR as Diane Irwin's fellow farmers trim the stems and leaves off the plants. The leftover twigs are run through a screen to form a powder that is packed by hand to form hashish.

With only a few pounds left to process, Diane Irwin is already looking forward to next year. She hopes to triple their harvest.

"I'm in for the long haul. I really do feel like we're pioneers bringing new life to medical marijuana," she said.

Diane Irwin got her patient card in May before starting the farm, also citing chronic pain. She rarely uses medical marijuana. Jason Irwin said that until the state better defines its law, he thinks it's wise for everyone in the business to have a patient card in case authorities question them while in possession of marijuana.

Colorado is one of 14 states that has legalized medical marijuana. Federal law still bans its use. But the Justice Department recently announced it would no longer seek to prosecute people using, prescribing or distributing marijuana for medical purposes as long as they're in compliance with local laws.

Jason Irwin wants to expand his operation based on the models of the two businesses he most admires: Whole Foods and Starbucks.

"We hope to develop a business model that proves to be successful, that we can expand upon, hopefully to other states and communities, become like a really reliable consistent supplier of safe, tested cannabis," he said.

For Diane Irwin, her new life in business with her son hasn't quite set in.

"It wasn't something I ever dreamed I would be involved in, " she said.

When her son was growing up, she adds, "I used to bust him all the time for marijuana. I used to flush it down the toilet."

[hachiman6677]

THAT is what I want to do! I can get the funds needed for something like that. Wow dude thank you for copying and pasting! I read through that and holy sweet Jesus that is a dream come true story there!!!

Ive got a acre of land that ive got access to! Cant wait to get the ball rolling on this! PLUS id be the only person within 7 hours of my location to be able to distribute mmj so they wouldnt have to travel so far

wow...slow breaths...maybe in a few years I will have a story like that to post on here about me and my wife :thumbsup::jointsmile::hippy:

[Dietblonde]

Sounds like the Detroit area is so depressed that it looks like a third world country. If you grow the A+, come on down. The state has said as late as July that that the registry receives more than 400+ new MMJ applicants everyday so there is an increasing market and demand.

Honestly though, if you're a non-grower or don't own a dispensary or know anyone personally who owns one, its incredibly difficult to get a job in the industry.

Good luck.

[generalchaos]

rainhaze I didnt read that entire thing but it sounded an awful lot like a video I saw on CNN today lol.

detroit pretty much is a 3rd world country, nobody goes there unless they absolutely have to (court, hockey games, etc)

I dont know anyone with a dispensary, but I do have plenty of experience and definitely make some A+ stuff. I think im going to move anyway just for the job market but would much rather do this kinda thing all day (or even on the side) instead of sitting at a computer.

[copobo]

I would wait until the legislature acts.

there will be new rules soon. If they open it up to large scale commercial growing under expensive licensing you'll be competing with RJ Reynolds, et. all and the price will be so low it won't be worth it except to grow for yourself... then, the money will be flowing OUT of Colorado.

[psychocat]

Once the intial rush is over the big boys will move into the market and they will make even the biggest private grows look like a postage stamp in comparison.
The big commercial grows will make it too expensive for small time growers to really compete.
They have the buying power to get everything so much cheaper, any business will tell you the secret is "buy cheap, sell expensive".
This is the future.

[hachiman6677]

Well..im gonna get it on the rush in oregon lol let the big boys try to put me out of business I can honestly say id laugh the entire time they tried cause id be high as fuck legally selling marijuana LEGALLY and id love to be eneough of a mite on their organizations stalk to have them want to get rid of me :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


seriously if I made like 100 a day profit id be happy I dont have to get rich id be rich in my life eneough doing something I love and doing it legitly and knowin everyone who came into my shop would leave with happy in their baggies:hippy:

[generalchaos]

if it was legal enough for the big boys to move in commercially then I would just get a business loan or something and do the same thing, and just because they have money doesnt mean they know what they are doing imp: