patrick.net

CBOEtrader says

BigFrank says

We already are growing and selling Cannabis in Illinois, and it's top notch, dialed in, high test, so you better bring your A game!

You own one of the 35 medical licenses? Or are you talking about CBD?

I began this journey to start a hemp farm. Then IL dropped the retail legalization news. Given my available food grade wharehouse plus immediate human resources in our management group make the cannabis license too perfect for us.

I own a piece of a few med licenses via Green Thumb, Cresco, and Harvest Health. And Acreage via dispensary license. The CBD business is the one making all the money lately, but i won't complain. Every year it's the same, sell the Spring rips, buy the summer dips, trade around a core position. The advantage to CBD at the moment is no real regulatory restrictions, which means it's not nearly the capital intensive venture that vertically integrated MMJ has been. Which allows us to build presence with the brand, because most are still confused to the fact that Cannabis was legalized in late 2018, federally. There's just a THC cap of 0.3%, which is absurd, but that's what the government does best, is absurdity. In the meantime, we get to build up our business while others are sinking tons of money into just getting started. We're growing high CBD "hemp" flower already, and that's actually fetching a higher price point than 'marijuana'! Which will surely change with more competition, but in the meantime, I just root for the FDA to keep dragging their feet. Keeps the big corp's from competing for the most part.

BigFrank says

are all of a sudden now getting all triggered about racial disparity and an attempt to right the glaringly obvious wrong.

Race is a bullshit and you know it. It's all cultural, but hey, skin color.

And what wrong are you talking about? If we're gonna go back 40 years or later let it go Elsa. We're basically six months away from 2020. 40 years ago was 1980. Are we seriously going to sit here and say specific races were specifically targeted by a majority and suppressed them somehow?

I'm living in the twilight zone if that's the case, cause it didn't happen. Government, politicians and the most racists of them all, the whites, have done nothing but bend over backward to try and equalize things to the point the scales have tipped in the opposite direction. Not sure why we can't just award production, intelligence, etc without filling a quota.

Hey CBOETrader,

From hearing what you are describing as the IL medallion scheme, my primary misgiving is the fact that it is a Medallion Scheme: have an exit plan and execute before the medallions become like city cab medallions after Uber and Lyft. If I were in IL and were interested in participating in this program, I'd be tempted to search the ancestry in my family and find some hispanic roots therefore take those 0% loans as a minority-owned corporation (self-identify as a woman and get a new driver's license issued if necessary) while having as little of my own capital as down payment in the game as possible. I'm glad I'm not in IL, nor do I know much about growing MJ, so I'm not tempted. Best of luck with your new enterprise regardless how you decide.

ps.
Abusing / taking advantage of irrational laws are morally justified because rendering it absurd to enforce is an efficient way of having those laws repealed or not made again next time to begin with.

BigFrank says

We're growing high CBD "hemp" flower already, and that's actually fetching a higher price point than 'marijuana'!

Interesting. I like CBD because it’s a great wind-down at the end of a day, and it’s also good for during the day when I have muscle aches or joint pain. I can take some and then go go go the rest of the day with little pain and very little impairment.

Quigley says

I like CBD because it’s a great wind-down at the end of a day

Tried, does not seem to work on me.

Quigley says

We're growing high CBD "hemp" flower already, and that's actually fetching a higher price point than 'marijuana'! Which will surely change with more competition, but in the meantime, I just

Yeah I was thinking of trying it in Texas for my Morton's Neuroma (nerve damage pain in feet). Too damn expensive to buy a gram of CBD as a test, $80-100 assuming the brand isn't lying to you.

Are you selling the extract at higher prices or the flower? Either way, this is a function of CA/OR/WA or whatever oversupplied state you live in.

If you are in one of those states, an outdoor grow for hemp will certainly be the right approach.

BigFrank says

There's just a THC cap of 0.3%

Yeah, I would go ahead and call this Hemp, given the Texas bill and others like it legally differentiate. I told texas state reps that I am a farmer wanting to grow hemp so they send me email notices of their meetings. I've asked detailed questions about Texas's plans for hemp vs cannabis.

They suggest that under .3% is legally hemp. Between .3-1% is forced destruction of the crop IF grown and processes without a cannabis license. Over 1% they call police and let you explain why you aren't just a terrible drug dealer.

These states do not take hemp vs cannabis definitions lightly. Call it hemp and save yourself some trouble.

Awesome to hear your business is going well. What products are hot? Vapes and edibles? CBD flower is not sold in Texas so I havent seen or tried that stuff yet.

Reality says

my primary misgiving is the fact that it is a Medallion Scheme

100% spot on. Yeah, it's a short term protected market . Make hay while the sun is high and either propel yourself into a national CBD brand like BigF above so that you can compete when interstate laws loosen OR be prepared to take your profits and close shop once interstate sales become the norm.

Lots of supplemental businesses to make money in Cannabis/Hemp if you have a trusted brand to build on.

In hemp it seems to be the seed/clone providers, as well as the processing facilities are killing it. Processing facilities want to keep 40% of your product. I'd bet many farmers have zero plan for drying/curing.

A HUGE opportunity in hemp is to patent your seed strain. Pretty sure can't do that in cannabis. In hemp if you develop a heat resistant autoflower that also produces .1% THC and 12% CBD, you could OWN that strain and seeds for $1/per .

https://www.cannalawblog.com/oregon-hemp-litigation-multi-million-dollar-crop-delivery-lawsuit-filed/

"The information to be
collected shall be designed to identify the following:
(1) the number and percentage of licenses provided to
Social Equity Applicants and to businesses owned by
minorities, women, veterans, and people with disabilities;
(2) the total number and percentage of employees in the
cannabis industry who meet the criteria in (3)(i) or
(3)(ii) in the definition of Social Equity Applicant or who
are minorities, women, veterans, or people with
disabilities;
(3) the total number and percentage of contractors and
subcontractors in the cannabis industry that meet the
definition of a Social Equity Applicant or who are owned by
minorities, women, veterans, or people with disabilities,
if known to the cannabis business establishment; and
(4) recommendations on reducing or eliminating any
identified barriers to entry, including access to capital,"

RafiMaas says

Where does it say non-white? Or anything about race?

they mention race/gender/etc alongside social equity all over the bill. They also define the social equity stuff as impacted "area" and "family": codewords for race. They also mention one of the purposes of the social equity program is to research hiring for [everyone but white cis'ies].

I suppose you could be correct and MAYBE they help out an unfortunate white guy. No Chicago lawyer or business man thinks that will happen though, at least none I've spoken to.

RafiMaas says

Disproportionately
22 Impacted Area;

Come on man, I know this state and I'm pretty CBOE does too. What is an impacted area? Why is televised, local news affiliates reporting on it? It's undeniably race based.

Or these links:

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/26/736117895/illinois-governor-signs-law-legalizing-recreational-use-of-marijuana (fourth graph)

https://nypost.com/2019/06/25/illinois-becomes-11th-state-to-allow-recreational-marijuana/ (second graph)

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/marijuana-illinois-legalization-bill-852088/ (third graph)

Then this:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minority

http://worldpopulationreview.com/states/illinois-population/

By default of the definitions and IL demographics, it's 100% race/minority based. You think the politicians and lawyers are dip shitted enough to put "we're going to give the black and brown people free loans and discounted license fees." Hell nah. Although it wouldn't surprise me in IL.

WookieMan says

You think the politicians and lawyers are dip shitted enough to put "we're going to give the black and brown people free loans and discounted license fees." Hell nah. Although it wouldn't surprise me in IL.

My main point is still why give this shit away for free. Hell Blago wanted to sell Obama's senate seat. Why the fuck are we giving away IL weed licenses at a discount and with no interest? Not a chance in hell this goes through if whites are 14% of the population in IL.

Who is going to enforce Weed Licenses in Illinois. I mean I think it is still against federal law to distribute. So if a cop were to try and enforce Illinois law, couldn't the person he is arresting just turn around and make a citizens arrest against the cop for conspiracy to distribute? I mean if a dispensary is robbed the cops will certainly protect it so in effect they are acting as enforcers for a drug cartel. It's nothing I'd want to try because cops would generally resist and probably kill you out of hand. Am I wrong or is this just another case in this country of it isn't what you do it's who you are.

WookieMan says

Why the fuck are we giving away IL weed licenses at a discount and with no interest?

politicians like Blago want to choose winners, and have a tendency to become insanely rich in the process.

How ya gonna shakedown a free market?

CBOEtrader says

politicians like Blago want to choose winners, and have a tendency to become insanely rich in the process.

I think he is actually still quite wealthy regardless of his jail time. Don't want to dox myself too much, but worked in Ravenswood Manor by his place for a number of years, as recently as 3 years ago. She's kept the house. She's done well while daddy/hubby was away with regard to real estate prices there. Though she refi'd in 2017 for roughly $550k. House is worth $1.1M all day and might be higher. They'll be fine... not that anyone cared.

It's not SJW, just want to point it out.

The people running the program have friends, those friends want an easier way in and to exclude everyone else, hence such a strange set of requirements. And you can bet the guy who will be choosing to whom to give out licenses will make sure friends and family come first. This is just like LA firefighters union.

Ironic that people think government employees are servants, when nothing is further from the truth.

FortWayneIndiana says

And you can bet the guy who will be choosing to whom to give out licenses will make sure friends and family come first. This is just like LA firefighters union.

Yeah it's unfortunate. The SJW thing (or any other moral smokescreen) is always a cover for corruption . Chicago is amongst the worst offenders

CBOEtrader says

Quigley says

We're growing high CBD "hemp" flower already, and that's actually fetching a higher price point than 'marijuana'! Which will surely change with more competition, but in the meantime, I just

Yeah I was thinking of trying it in Texas for my Morton's Neuroma (nerve damage pain in feet). Too damn expensive to buy a gram of CBD as a test, $80-100 assuming the brand isn't lying to you.

Are you selling the extract at higher prices or the flower? Either way, this is a function of CA/OR/WA or whatever oversupplied state you live in.

If you are in one of those states, an outdoor grow for hemp will certainly be the right approach.

BigFrank says

There's just a THC cap of 0.3%

Yeah, I would go ahead and call this Hemp, given the Texas bill and others like it legally differentiate. I...

3.5 grams of flower with ~ 17% CBD retails for $38 so that's about 600mg of CBD in the flower. There's a wide range of pricing for different brands of extracts, as cheap as $35 for an isolate "tincture" and $30 for a 600mg 'full spectrum' tincture, up to $50-60 for 600mg "tincture" drops. My brand is geared towards mid aged people (i had originally expected to get majority of females, however, we see people from all walks of life taking CBD). Most people don't have nearly a CBD rich flower as we do, often times the "hemp" flower people are selling has ~6-8% CBD content. When this started, we would say that retail price should be around 0.10 per mg, but we're already trending towards 0.05 per mg. I wouldn't be surprised to see it come closer to a penny some point in 2020, that will depend on how successful everyone is with their 2019 crops. I remember reading about Colorado in the early years of Hemp farming, more than 90% of crops coming in Hot (>.3% thc)

https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-legalizes-hemp-11685229

BigFrank says

I remember reading about Colorado in the early years of Hemp farming, more than 90% of crops coming in Hot (>.3% thc)

What happens when it comes in HOT? I only know Texas laws. If the farmer has a cannabis license is it still ok? Assuming otherwise it would be destroyed ... Could you imagine watching 4 months of work go up in smoke?

CBOEtrader says

FortWayneIndiana says

And you can bet the guy who will be choosing to whom to give out licenses will make sure friends and family come first. This is just like LA firefighters union.

Yeah it's unfortunate. The SJW thing (or any other moral smokescreen) is always a cover for corruption . Chicago is amongst the worst offenders

That's a good way to put it moral smokescreen. Gonna use that one. Thanks CBOEtrader.

Could you imagine watching 4 months of work go up in smoke?

Is not that the general idea anyway?