(unkle jay, aka dubie ibold in greenhouse 5)
the marijuana farm part 2
i think not. not if you're a legal commercial pot grower in WA state. some devastating developments in 2014 have left 2015 looking pretty dismal for those in the biz. i managed the development of San Juan Sun Grown (SJSG), one of the first state licensed cannabis growers in the USA. last March i was fully engaged (and enthusiastic) acquiring building permits and lining up sub contractors, etc. to build a tier 3 wa. state liquor control board(lcb) certified pot farm. exciting times in a chaotic 'budding' new industry...
our particular project? build nine 150'x20' greenhouses with heat, lights, ventilation, set up for year round growing. build a 4000 square foot processing facility. fenced with a elaborate video surveillance system so lcb could literally watch our every move. a formidable undertaking, indeed. i naively thought we were all going to make a lot of money. so what went wrong?
in the case of SJSG we did not 'dot all the i's' for sure. legal trouble. lots of expensive legal trouble. above and beyond the initial investment in development. and then the cash cow we were all anticipating did not materialize. yeah, we grew marijuana. and then the market began to deteriorate. for many 502 related businesses low prices for retail pot just isn't justifying the investment. why? a combo of factors...
Wa. state didn't cap production (as Colorado did). the Wa. cannabis crop came into stores late in the year and to a certain extent all at once. too much legal pot! couple that with the already adequate supply of black market weed and medical marijuana, the state licensed heavily taxed product isn't looking so attractive to joe-stoner. as of january 2015 only %20 of the 2014 Wa. state marijuana crop had sold.
and then the December bomb. the federal government decides that indians can grow and sell pot on their reservations. that's a massive curveball for those who've gone the legal marijuana route. the last thing our state pot industry needs is more supply. 2015 will be quite pleasant for joe-stoner...weed galore. cheap weed. and the state regulated pot industry? i believe we will continue to see a major shake-out.
in the case of SJSG we did not 'dot all the i's' for sure. legal trouble. lots of expensive legal trouble. above and beyond the initial investment in development. and then the cash cow we were all anticipating did not materialize. yeah, we grew marijuana. and then the market began to deteriorate. for many 502 related businesses low prices for retail pot just isn't justifying the investment. why? a combo of factors...
Wa. state didn't cap production (as Colorado did). the Wa. cannabis crop came into stores late in the year and to a certain extent all at once. too much legal pot! couple that with the already adequate supply of black market weed and medical marijuana, the state licensed heavily taxed product isn't looking so attractive to joe-stoner. as of january 2015 only %20 of the 2014 Wa. state marijuana crop had sold.
and then the December bomb. the federal government decides that indians can grow and sell pot on their reservations. that's a massive curveball for those who've gone the legal marijuana route. the last thing our state pot industry needs is more supply. 2015 will be quite pleasant for joe-stoner...weed galore. cheap weed. and the state regulated pot industry? i believe we will continue to see a major shake-out.
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