“Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannise their teachers.” -Socrates
Does that sound familiar?
As far as labor, they said the same thing about coal miners who didn’t want to work 12 hr days 6 days a week. About employing literal children. About so many things. It’s always the workers who get shat upon…always their fault. Nevermind the man in the mansion who has never grown a plant in his life telling you to work harder for less money.
I’d like to see weed legal like tomatoes. Canopy limit to favor only small mom and pop operations. No regulations. No license. Co-ops and farmer’s markets over companies.
Hi folks, I really appreciate this thread, so thanks for chiming in. I’ll be following this and any other threads providing insight. I am fascinated with the way “Corporate Cannabis” is evolving despite the fact that I have zero interest in participating in it.
From an outsider’s perspective it seems like nexus of Weed + Money + Politics is pretty toxic and that combines to take all the soul out of the enterprise. It’s puzzling that cannabis seems to have all the problems of most enterprises plus a bunch of others. I have yet to meet any large scale operator or employee who is happy with the field.
Here in New England, the street buzz is that you shouldn’t even try to get into commercial growing if you don’t have at least a million dollars for permits, inspections and payoffs! And that’s at a time when the street market is flooded with smoky stink weed from last summer’s west coast fires.
And, and, and… The licensed weed I’ve tried from the local Dispo was expensive junk. The Big Boyz on IC are reporting, “outs were as low as 250 per unit in Oregon…” That’s gotta hurt with financial planning!
I have founded several businesses and I consider a well run business of any type to be a real accomplishment. So this isn’t some anti-business knee jerk, just an observation. Please correct me if I’m off base.
SOME places may have a hard time getting employees, ex. Pincanna in Pinconning, MI, because they doesn’t even call back prospective employees (probably because of my felony) or acknowledge that they got your resume/application.
I won’t apply at another commercial grow after that type of disrespect, I’ll build my own with my own two hands and undercut these pricks’ prices.
It’s typical corporate business practices in a game they barely even understand, so why would I ever go make someone else money that I know for a fact is gonna treat me subhuman when I can do it my damned self?
I don’t see any way it would pay even in Oklahoma where costs are relatively low.(going commercial)…the only thing I can think of is the fact that you are grandfather in to some extent…who knows if they will care
@Astrodude, what exactly does that look like in the Licensed Cannabis world? There are third parties, state & local government as well as dispo purchase agents and competitor growers in the mix. Serious question.
How do you manage all that and make enough profit to pay down your investment and a living wage for everybody?
The thing I wonder is this: Don’t the pressures of commercial growers put them in a natural opposition to recreational growers?
At this time I don’t know. I have been a caregiver in Michigan and laws are changing. But I have been in conversation with state rep and I think there is opportunity now in selling to patients. They seek quality.
My only real take on it from a consumer’s point is that legal cannabis in Ontario has raised prices while somehow lowering the quality also. No wonder it’s not going as well as they planned.
Hi @Foreigner I guess that’s my point, I’m microscopic on the cannabis scene, but I’m not only making the best smoke I’ve every had, but I’m giving my BroMigos some potent fire for the Holidays. I’m cutting into SomeBody’s market n’est pas?
Yeah definitely, me too. and eventually it will all be as legal as selling somebody your used bike…I hope.
I’ll put it here because I don’t care. We sold weed to meet our needs to grow for those who needed what they couldn’t normally afford. We made money on the co -ops and special requests, all under the moniker of caregiver. fvckem I’m going legit in 2022, not til then. Need retirement.
Today - Michigan is recalling rec from 200 locations, because commercial don’t care and caregivers don’t grow shit weed!
I’m a small fry too. But it’s not just me they have to worry about. It’s also all the people I give seeds to who grow pounds with them and give some away to their friends.
I especially like giving them away to older people who scolded me for smoking weed as a teenager. It makes me giggle.
Quality is an issue for sure but I’d bet your average (not every) dispo customer doesn’t know what quality weed is so they don’t miss it.
I’d really like to be a fly on the wall at their forecasting meetings, “so x percent of people smoke x amount a month which means they will buy x amount from us at x profit margin…oops.”
…and the greatest Joy of OverGrow Da World is what… giving away seeds that you, yourself, have produced!
I am not remotely anti-commercial, but damn tough row ta hoe guys. I think the answer is “Small Is Beautiful” where you build local Farm 2 Market relationships with dispos and patients? Not a Multi-Multi biz plan but likely sustainable I reckon. We have examples of that here on OG, likely @TOHF is one of them so, gracias amigo for lighting this conversation on fire.
They say “oh it’s for safety and accountability” but it’s just hurdles and expense average joes can’t swing. No one ever had a problem selling weed before. No one has ever died from black market Cannabis. But there’s a “problem” now.
It’s a literal monopoly…just split among certain “licensees”. You get a slice of a monopoly rather than carving out a share of the market. Merely the illusion of competition.
Anyone should be able to grow weed anywhere. If people like it, they can buy it. Like anything else.
Oh believe me, I’d love to work in the industry where I live. The problem is they don’t pay a livable wage. They prey on potential employees who just want to get into the industry and take advantage of them. I worked in an i502 place once for a couple months. It was extremely hard work, I was exhausted ever day. The “head grower” or guy in charge of the place would come in late and drunk every day(he was the best friend of one of the owners) and the place ran like shit and was dependent on a group of underpaid and overworked employees - The same place produced something like ~250k in product a month.
Needless to say I’m making $10 more an hour working in manufacturing than I would be working in the industry. In a time where a one bedroom costs between $1500-1700 dollars which is pretty much half of my income outside of overtime It’s no surprise that people don’t want to work for producers… You wouldn’t be able to survive.
My buddy works at a shop here in kzoo and he said they had to destroy like 20lbs of product that went through some particular lab. This was just yesterday.
Obviously my next question was “who gets to destroy it and how can someone game the system” and he said he thought the same thing but they mix it with wet concrete in buckets and throw it out.
