collective gardener
Well-Known Member
I too wonder where this "donation" term came into vogue. We have a "Collective Association" (real legal term) set up by an attorney. The money we recieve for the meds is "reimbursment" for costs incurred. The law requires that there is no "profit". Funny word, that "profit". The law does not prohibit you from being paid for your time spent growing. Nor does the law cap what your hourly rate can be. This isn't me talking out of my ass...this is straight from our attorney who is a cannabis business lawyer. Now, the kicker on the hourly rate is you have to picture yourself in front of 12 people justifying your hourly wage. Our attorney recommends no more than $50/hr. But, we all know how time consuming this can be, right?And herein lies the true justification for caring for the sick, "when and how much do I get paid?"
I laughed my ass off earlier when I ran across the word 'donate', as I knew the poster really meant 'sell for profit'. And please don't tell me it costs you $200 per ounce to grow either.... While I am all for selling for profit, call it what it is, don't hide behind a red cross and claim you are 'donating excess' when all you are doing is selling marijuana and filling out a 1099. There is nothing going on even remotely looking like a donation.
In the end, the numbers just need to balance. Very few dispenaries are operating 100% legal. Perfect example: If you can only charge what your costs are, how can you charge say $50 for an eighth and $150 for a Z? Now the dispensary will tell you that selling 4 eighths costs more that selling one ounce....and I'm sure it does with the extra bagging, extra sales time, etc...But is it and extra $50? Probably not. Of course, the burden of proof being on the other side helps out.
You can make money legally growing. But, your paperwork needs to show a zero balance after costs. We keep perfect records. Anyone who doesn't may wish they did should the bad people show up one day. If you have good record keeping, even if you get arrested, it will end up a DA reject. In my town, the cops like to raid a grow, sieze the lights (they don't waste time with the other stuff) and tell you they have dropped the charges, but if you want your gear back they will file charges. Isn't that fun?
I know some "legal" med growers who grow around 20lbs/month. The sell about 7 per month to dispensaries. According to their records, they only grow 7 pounds, so the numbers look pretty good. The other 13 lbs get sold on the black market. It actually goes out of state. They have had "the man" visit the op and they got everything back. Their theory is that "the man" would have a hard time proving that they are growing more than 7lbs/month. They're right. After all, are they growing a 7 week plant, or a 14 week plant? You think the cops are cultivation experts? Not only are they not, here, they won't even render an opinion on yield and street value. Here's why:
4 years ago a cop stated on the stand that the value of 4 plants siezed from a grow was $6,400. Fast forward 3 years. A husband and wife med grow op had their 12 plants illegally siezed and destroyed by the police. The court ruled that the police needed to pay the couple for the plants illegally destryed. The couple's lawyer pulled up the sworn testimony from a police officer "expert" from 3 years prior. That testimony valued plants at $6,400 each. The couple was paid by the police department $76,800. So, you can see why the police are a little hesitant to start rendering "opinions" regarding cultivation and street value when we now have a legal component involved.
Bottom line. If you really want to be legal. Get a lwayer to set you up a collective of your own. Keep good records. Our attorney's fees were $3,000 to set everything up, and we pay him about $300/month for consulatations to keep everythinglegal as our collective evolves. It's cheap security.
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/407048-20-000-watt-medical-grow.html