Growing medical marijuana for a living...

[p3s7]

I was thinking about this subject for a while now and I seemed to have found a solution to all the problems associated with the industry and prosecution cases.

I've been growing for nearly 7 years now and wish so to do it for a living. Growing for a living is no where near the same as selling marijuana for a living.

I want to set up a LLC, I will be self employed under this LLC. Just for argument sake, lets say I name this company, Farmers for Medical Marijuana (FMMJ). Then I will form a collective/co-op. This collective/co-op will be formed as a non-profit organization. The collective/co-op will then hire me to grow their patients medicine. Everything that I produce (smokable flowers) will be given to the collective for free at no charge for the marijuana itself.

As a grower employed under FMMJ, I will be asking an hourly wage of say $100 an hour. At the end of harvest, FMMJ will calculate how many hours I worked and calculate all out of pocket expenses assumed by the grower (ALL RECEIPTS MUST BE AVAILABLE. If the receipt for materials is not kept then the grower cannot get reimbursed for it) to keep the garden healthy and safe. After calculating the total expense assumed by FMMJ to create the medicine, FMMJ will bill the collective for this exact amount. FMMJ will then issue payment to the grower/me for the service. The collective will then distribute the medicine they got for free amongst its patients but charge accordingly for the expenses assumed to create the medicine.

This way everything will be documented and because the grower is an employee for a company and will be getting paid income, the grower will need to pay income tax. FMMJ will not own any of the medicine and therefore cannot and will not charge for the medicine. Only for the resources and expenses directly related to making the medicine.

The problem with this is that collectives/co-ops won't be purchasing their medicine at prices related to units and this could be a problem for the market because different strains go for different prices and is usually based on weight. Under this way the collective/co-op will be paying generally a set amount for their medicine regardless of strain or quantity. So for example with all expenses and wages added up say it comes out to 12,000 and the grower is only able to produce 1.5lbs then that is how much the medicine will cost. On the other hand if costs were 12,000 and I produced 5lbs then that will still be how much the medicine will be. But under this method it would be the most legal because the grower is no longer growing marijuana and selling it to collectives for massive profits and undocumented. I'd be more than satisfied making 12,000 a month (4hrs a day x 30 days x $100/hr.) regardless if I produced 5lbs or 10lbs. It will be a job and it will be taxed, documented, and compliant.

It's kind of like say you have a house with a front lawn you need to take care of. You hire a company to do your landscaping, the employees of the company will work on your landscaping. The company pays the employees and bills the homeowner.

The reason I am going to set up an LLC for FMMJ is because FMMJ is not going to be a collective, it does not have patients and it does not sell anything. Its like me having my own landscaping/gardening business.


I hope all of this makes sense and any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

[aldus]

Sounds like a good idea to me, but with anything like this the lawyers and accountants know best.

I'm sure you could tweak production to meet your payscale as well.

 

[sedate]

I hope all of this makes sense and any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

It makes sense - and your model is rather similar to how self-employed people pay themselves - but I can't really see the advantaged to filing all that and paying all the fees and doing all the paper work.

I've been growing for nearly 7 years now and wish so to do it for a living. Growing for a living is no where near the same as selling marijuana for a living.

How so?

I just take my harvest down to the corner dispensary, and a nice crisp stack of $20 bills is placed in my hand - this is oh so the same - except all that selling and illegal hassle.

I just don't understand the advantage to doing it that way over just dealing with a pile of cash . . . cuz a pile of cash isn't very hard to deal with . . .

 

[Texas Kid]

Pretty generic way to set them up and that is being done everyday here....and they don't have a chance.

When your a commercial grower there is no difference between growin and sellin, you have to sell you product one way or another and you can not give it away, I am not sure where everybody gets the impression that that is even a business model at all..you can not give it away, the market will not allow it, mainstream medical marijuana will always be pegged to ethe street price or even higher. Just in your formula, you are goin to be making $800-$1200 a day almost $6,000.00 a week,(more than us for profit guys are making for sure) and that desn't even begin to cover the expense and overhaed of a large operation... where will that money come from? Non profits in this industry don't work, because a 501 or 509 filing is a federal filing and legally you can not have federal protection as a non profit when you are selling illegal narcotics or operating an illegally business..plain and simple...There are alot of people that claim to be running non profits out here that actually are not, sounds good to say out loud but a non profit is just another company..

Not sure if yall know how non profits work, they make tons and tons of profit and more than S-Corps and C-corps if your really looking hard at it. At the end of the year, this is how a non profit works, they operate as a full tilt company( captitol purchases, developement, new facilities, etc...) all year under the shadow of a non profit, giving people a warm fuzzy feeling for dealing with a non profit for what ever reason, and then at the end of the year when there is a million or so dollars in the bank, that would be declared as profit or retained earings for a normal S or C corp tax filing, the non profit simply distributes it among their directors and officers so at the end of the day there is no profit, so 5 guys split the million dollars as directors fees and carry on to do it again next year..thats how non profits work in a nutshell, same as churches and charities..definately not some holy grail of vertue and good intentions that everyone makes them out to be.

I will save ya alot of time and frustration, start growing and get your product to market or directly to people, that will help patients the most. I have yet to see a single pie in the sky plan like this come together or do anythnig other than waste everybodies time, energy and money and I have seen and heard many attempts at it so far.

Co-ops and collectives do not really work the way you would think and really the model is not really suitable for what we do...hell it doesn't even work for regular farmers very well and has more value to them as a means of collective bargining and price control as well as share the expense of processing your product. Usually only other farmers participate, so everyone is kickin in product, the medical marijuana scene doesn't work like that, there are growers/suppliers and cutomers/patients and customers don't buy directly from a co-op, that is not how they work, only the farmers themselves get to participate in the co-op, then they collective negotiate market price with the next level of distributors, wholesallers,and retailers..a co-op is basically a sales group supported by farmers that don't have the nuts, smarts, desire, or connections to take their product to market.

Tex

 

[headband707]

Although everything Tex says is right IMHO the whole thing needs to change with prices that the dispenaries are getting for bud that isn't worth it. In Canada it's $10.00 a gram for shit and in the USA it's $70.00 an 1/8 these prices are too high ,again IMHO.Asking for $100.00 an hour!! is that all lol.. This is why pot is soo expensive ppl see money and can't resist it not thinking of the poor sick ppl that need it. Thats my 2 cents peace out Headband707

 

[Jalisco Kid]

A real co-op has members.These members have a vote. It would never really work in a regular society. In a closed society such as ours there is no chance in hell. I would love to be at a meeting where just the strains were being picked to grow. Or if jimbo gets the same price as me when my stuff rocks and his is crap. People needed to be guided and told what to do if it is to work.Once people get to thinking it just turns to crap. You got to row your own boat to get to where you want to be. JK

 

[revolutionseeds]

Just let me grow as many plants as I humanly can...I don't care if I make a fucking dime. That's not why I grow.

 

[Texas Kid]

Unfortunately my rent, electric, water, food, gas, etc....cost money, if I could pay with weed I would but until cannabis replaces the dollar as legal tender, you have to get paid for your efforts or someone has to pay for you.

Tex

 

[p3s7]

ForGor those that know my situation please feel free to post your advice.

 

[headband707]

Baby steps p3 baby steps . I would first get legal and get that part out of the way. I assume your from the US and under those laws.. I would get to know the dispensaries and who is doing what ? Get hooked up with good ppl or you will get taken advantage of by sharks. Ask lots of question from ppl that have done this before. peace out Headband707

 

[sky high]

Because I have kids about your age/in college I gotta ask.... WHOSE $$$ will be wasted if you get popped doing this....yours (loans)....or mom and dad's (making personal sacrifices for years to better your life)???

either way....I'm pretty sure they don't (knowingly) llicense felons in the medical industry

be safe, be well

s h

 

[DazedNconfussed]

I dought anyone would ever pay $12k per month for just your time....$100 per hour, come on bro....your dreaming....and hey if you only grow 1.5lbs so be it, there problem not yours.....dont sound like your out to help anyone, maybe just screw some med marijuana patients over...what benifit would the patients have gambling on you when they could just hit a club and get what they need...not like your saving them any money...Now you may be able to make $12k per month selling weed back to clubs but they are going to pay by the weight you bring in....and that much weed means big risks....

I really am not trying to be an ass but its people trying to get rich off weed that makes it too expensive for the general population of medical marijuana patients....

You got alot going for you bro....if you grow this kind of weight and youll most lickley get caught sooner or later, bigger you are the hard it is to stay under the radar.....If I was you I would keep it small, simple and legal and sell a little bud back to a club if you can to pay for you expenses....

 

[p3s7]

Hi sky high,

Very honest concern. I would wonder the same, and I have. I love my parents very much but I've never been one to let others tell me what I should become or decide my future profession for me. Yes if I get popped it would devastate them and me and like you said, all the money they put into caring for me would seem pretty much pointless. As of now everything I have to lose out of all this is from me. I would never in a million years ask for their money to do what I am doing. I own my future and I dont think im being selfish for thinking this. I'm fortunate that my parents will have financial stability for their lifetime. But let me ask you this, if anything bad ever happened to you and I hope nothing ever will, who's lives will ultimatey be affected by that? Certainly not just yours. Your children would need a figure in their life which is priceless, as well as the financial support needed for a comfortable life. You might say "well that would never happen to me because I am completely compliant and a model citizen." Well is that not what I am trying to be or what I want to be able to say as well? If you don't want your children doing what Im doing I understand if the reason is because today's laws are not yet structured around this matter and the probability of prison time is higher than any other profession out there. But if anyone were to tell me that "you can be something so much more, something more prestigious honorable like a lawyer or doctor," then I would have to disagree because the most honorable thing you can do for yourself is something you are passionate towards and feel honored doing. I could go to a village and they could tell me that tatooing my face is honorable in their society but am I going to see it as something honorable if I don't believe it to be or feel passionate in doing that? No.*

Anyways that's just my 2cents. No disrespect to you sky high if I may have come off like that. I actually feel good that you have concerns about all this.

-p3 *

 

[p3s7]

Hi dazednconfussed,

I think I would have to disagree with you. Do you really think people like me or thinking like me are spiking bud prices up? I actually want to form a separate entity to document every detail of how the grower gets compensated. Do you personally know anyone who wants to do that? $12000 a month is doing that? I used the 1.5lbs as an example in describing a flaw in my proposed idea in a scenerio where a rookie grower might mess up a harvest. Is that going to be me? I don't think so. I would be pumping 10lbs a month. When was the last time your dealer or dispensary charged you 1200 per lb. that's 2.68 per gram for labor fee. Of course expenses might Jack up the net price to $5-8 per gram.

When all this becomes legal where do you think your going to get your meds from. You think you wil get it for free? Is the government going to give it out for free? Do you expect me or anyone else to grow your medicine and put countless hours in doing so and have nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep or nothing to wear? Because that is what is going to happen to anyone under your model of thinking. You could tell me that everyone should grow their own. That would be a utopian situation and honest growers know that not everyone is capable of producing high quality medicine through safe conditions a methods. If your not growing your own your not wasting or using your time. If a grower is growing your meds he is using his time. Time = money simply because it is irreplacable. Who makes your pharmacueticals? People who obviously demand to be compensated for doing so, so that they can care for their families and such. Truth is that if your not creating anything yourself your paying for everything necessary to bring that whatever to you.

If anyone thinks I'm using the medical scene as a shield your wrong. I have a rare form of*scoliosis and have back pains, muscle pains, and cannot stand or sit for too long or else I'll get stiff and cramp. I'm going to have this all my life. Is mj ruining my life? My academics? Or my soul?

Just a couple more pennies I found in my pocket.

-p3

Trying to defend myself over something that is completely irrelevant to the questions or problems I have is just a waste of everyones time.

I*need*the*advice*and*help*that*is*going*to*make*me*legal*so*I*don't end up in prison. I don't believe that all the buds in the 1000's of dispensaries all come from a bunch of growers that grow a little for themselves and others then sell a little back to the dispensary. Somehow dispensaries are getting their lbs. from dedicated farmers in a legal way. Some might not be but the ones that do exist as well. Help me get from point A to point B please.***

**

 

[Rolln J]

the advice you need doesnt come cheap or especially free over the internet - you need to find an attorney that specializes in setting up LLC for non-profit co-ops and retain/pay him for the advice - end of story!

 

[Texas Kid]

So after all that you come back to the only way for this to work is to grow for profit, right, so why not just setup to do that in the first place instead of conveluding your thought process with all this do gooder smoke and mirrors action.

People document every single expense now, down to the penny, so what, I could tell ya within a couple bucks how much everything I do cost to produce, process and get to market as well as the amortization schedule on all my equipment, again, normal stuff in the game..

Tex

 

[sky high]

Kudos to you if yer paying your own way through med school. In that scenario, yes, you have every right to follow your dream/passion. I can't fault you for that because I've been growing pot longer than you've been alive.

but again....if yer no paying yer own way and you are jeopardizing your parents $$$ you are a complete idiot. I've known tons of "4.0" students in my day. the key isn't the grades, it's the common sense combined with the grades. Booksmart and life stupid won't get ya very far in the world...true dat.

My kids both smoke. I've smoked with both my kids. I give my oldest bud because he'd just ask for money to go buy it @ street prices if i didn't. I'll teach em both how to grow/save the $$$ they'd sopend on personal stash for better things when they are on their own and responsible for themselves.

if yer gonna go ahead and do this...set aside 25K for an attorney and make sure you have him on yer cell phone/contacts..... cus it'll be a wild ride and your parents will drop your ass like a hot POTato if it all goes south.

In the end...IF YOU HAVE TO ASK you are WAYYYYY over your head.

be safe, be well.

s h

 

[Zigzagman]

Hey P3s7, I think what Tex is politely trying to tell you is, that ethical MMJ growing is a long time commitment and a perfect living ... If you like, 24/7...365 work schedules. If you become good at it, you might even make some money. Good luck.

 

[headband707]

Okay p3 let me school you a bit on what the clubs want... If you want to be a supplier for a club they want a couple of things that you have to think about .. One thing is they want quality bud on a regular basis and not to be dicked around. Has to be consistent or you will be known as the grower that only brings in shit weed and not really worth investing time into.Lots of ppl can grow sweet weed but they can't keep it up. Not many ppl can supply like that unless they are set up in a pretty big place that takes a lot of electricity which is usually tracked by police and hydro companies. My suggestion to you is go to the club ask other growers and then see if you can do or be what they need first before you invest anything peace out Headband707

 

[revolutionseeds]

Unfortunately my rent, electric, water, food, gas, etc....cost money, if I could pay with weed I would but until cannabis replaces the dollar as legal tender, you have to get paid for your efforts or someone has to pay for you.

Tex

I think you missed my point, obviously growing costs money, but that doesn't neccesarily mean you have to pay expenses from selling herb. Some people don't need to sell it to pay the bills. Of course, I'm certainly not opposed to selling herb. To clarify, if weed was $.50 cents/pound and I could grow as much as I want.....I'm going to take that scenario, over $3,000/pound and 25 plants. Just my personal feelings on the matter, I'm sure there would be a lot pissed off people out there, but if that's the only reason they are doing what they do, then fuckem'.
:boogie: