If Growers were licensed...what then?

[colagal]

So my understanding is this:

Say you, High, had a grow. We could hire you to "manage" that grow and you would essentially be absorbed into The Releaf Center. I'm pretty sure this is what Matt Brown has been talking about. I have a feeling that dispensaries won't be required to own the property they grow on in the final draft because that gets in to some property rights issues they'd rather not eff with.

The problem comes in with Ordinance 39 in Denver, and similar statutes that many other cities are likely to adopt. Managers of a business/grow must be disclosed to the city. That may hamper dispensaries from taking on as many growers as they want, but they may decide that the two are separate entities entirely. Then it comes down to whether or not municipalities consider grows a part of the investment structure. So much is still unknown.

Does that make a little more sense?

Sort of, but I am pretty dense, anyway, since we are speculating, if High were absorbed as an employee, do you think High's grow location would have to be located in an area zoned for business or agricultural to meet the licensing requirements as a separate but related grow facility? Licensing may be a limiting factor...?

[palerider7777]

It's all in there... the facility can be physically separate, but must still be owned, leased or rented by the dispensary. There's a couple other complicated, non-impactful rules as well. 12-43.3-310(8)b.

EDT: Releaf posted while I was writing. That's my understanding as well. If I'm going to sell to a dispensary, I'm going to be their employee. There's lots of language in there as well about future occupational licensing, so I expect the cracks in the system will fill in over time as they write those regulations.

if this is the case then it would be set up like a sub contractor type of thing? being that the shop is the owner and im subbing my work to them?

[HighPopalorum]

if this is the case then it would be set up like a sub contractor type of thing? being that the shop is the owner and im subbing my work to them?

Your guess is as good as mine.

[HighPopalorum]

Sort of, but I am pretty dense, anyway, since we are speculating, if High were absorbed as an employee, do you think High's grow location would have to be located in an area zoned for business or agricultural to meet the licensing requirements as a separate but related grow facility?

There's nothing in the bill that says so, but those are the kinds of things that are handled with ordinances by local governments. The bill gives broad power to local government. Towns that want to make it difficult or impossible to operate a dispensary could certainly do so. FWIW, I think that last bit is a good thing.

[TheReleafCenter]

Sort of, but I am pretty dense, anyway, since we are speculating, if High were absorbed as an employee, do you think High's grow location would have to be located in an area zoned for business or agricultural to meet the licensing requirements as a separate but related grow facility? Licensing may be a limiting factor...?

I'm not sure what is happening in terms of zoning requirements, but I doubt they'll be any different than that of dispensaries. If only business/ag areas are used it makes it easier for them to identify grows that aren't in compliance. Additionally, it assuages fears that people may have over "the grow next door."

[colagal]

I'm not sure what is happening in terms of zoning requirements, but I doubt they'll be any different than that of dispensaries. If only business/ag areas are used it makes it easier for them to identify grows that aren't in compliance. Additionally, it assuages fears that people may have over "the grow next door."

Assuming local municipal ordinances require commercial or ag zoning (likely), then I would bet that the bulk of the existing growers are located in residential zones and would not in compliance. Either these growers move their grow to an approved zone if they want to do business with dispensaries (unlikely), or reduce their patient load so that they don't have to be licensed (unlikely), or find a gray area to keep in business (likely), or...?

Bottom line guess is that the approved legislation will probably keep the dispensary model, but limit where one can grow and how much can be grown. Not sure how much product dispensaries get comes from "home" growers, but if significant, then supply could be less thereby raising the price since demand will stay the same or even increase.

[Mississippi Steve]

My read is that they are using the same rules for a dispensory as they do for a liquer store. As far as the business end, there will be yearly state license fees, most likely an insurance requirement, state tax certificate, local business license, very stringent record keeping as you will probably be audited at least yearly by the state tax commission, monthly sales tax returns if applicable, federal taxes(income, business, etc), yearly inventory tax, and a host of other things. You would do well to find a really good accountant... this not gonna be cheap, but well worth it in the long run. It would be a really really good idea to incorporate the business for a couple of reasons...first and most importantly to protect yourself and your property, second you will pay the feds a hell of a lot less as a "c" corp than you will as a sole propriator. My accountant saved me around $8,000 a year in federal taxes alone, so I don't mind writing him that $675 check for his fees.
As a business owner in the real world for 14 years, I am telling you first hand that if you *ALWAYS* do the right things right, and charge what it takes to not just pay the bills, but also to make a small profit after all the bulls and salaries are paid. 10% of your net is a good target.
Before attempting to start *ANY* business, you need a minimum of $25,000 for start-up costs plus one years salary.
It would also be a good idea to take some business courses to learn the business of running a business.