What about Initiative 1372

Initiative 1372 is a good step to stabilize the situation short term. For better or worse Recreational Cannabis and Medical Marijuana are married in the eyes of the public. The two things to get government on your side:

1. Public safety.
2. Taxes in their direction.

Neither of those things happened with the medical system but did occur with the recreational side. Since '98 Medical Marijuana operated under the illusion of hands off system which restricted its growth. It was a free market system, growing an illegal product using any methods necessary and paying questionable taxes and licensing. It was to the point where some access points were advertising on the streets that it was tax free. For unity to occur, it is going to require people to work together. We got this far by looking at the standard, seeing that it wasn’t enough and changing the laws. It has required a lot of people giving up something to get this far. Most have forgotten that I-692 was funded by businessmen George Soros, John Sperling, and Peter Lewis using the California based organization Americans for Medical Rights.

The medical side can gain a lot by working together. There have been L&I cases where insurance companies were required by the courts to cover a patient’s medical marijuana. If we want this ability more widespread then it will require regulation on the medical marijuana side. If we want more doctors prescribing it then it will require a change in scheduling so their insurance covers it. We also need for more access points to adopt practices of medical clinics. Yes, this does mean some added costs.

The recreational side worries about lost revenue but it can make long term market gains with access to supplying medical patients. There have been estimates that it is only penetrating 3% to 5% of the market and to make gains it has to absorb from medical or the black market. With the change in laws, most law enforcement has reduced marijuana arrests which have helped the black market. Black market goods support neither medical nor recreational.

The listed sponsors of I 1372 are:

Jared Allaway, James Barber Sr, Mathew S Ramsey, Gina Garcia, Grandma Cat Jeter, Jeremy Kaufman, Frey Allyn, Dana Greetham, Stephanie Viskovich, Steven Crites, Matt Harrison, Adam Assenberg, Savhanna Carter-phipps, Hugh H. Newmark, Savhanna "Batgirl" Carter-Phipps, Joe Corcoran, Kristen Adamson, Trisha Johnson, George Foley, John Novak, David Hansen

The two systems can work for medical and recreational however there has to be some give and take. Right now the majority of us are trapped between new money and old timers that don’t want to budge. Right now we need to work on passing the 1372 however do not discount working with long term groups such as CCSE.

Death sucks but it doesn't have to kill dreams.

All deaths are premature.

I just had my first I502 grower pass away. It really sucked. There were no instuctions for what to strains to plant etc. Now the team has to deal with the grief and knowledge loss that this key member brought to their team. Despite this they have to move forward because of the dreams and the financal commitments that brought them this far. My advise is not changed: Get a plan and a life insurance policy.

If you have a team working on your operation then look at everyone. If they had to leave would you be able to keep going and produce your dreams? Would you struggle or would it look radically different? Can you deal with the emotional loss alongside the financal loss?

If the answer is yes then make a plan and get a life insurance policy to make sure that the dream moves forward. It doesn’t have to be fancy or a huge amount just enough to move your team forward. If you need a quote then ask me or my partner. If you are running a partnership or have shares then consider buy/sell agreements with the insurance policy in place to cash the estate out immediately.These are how you can retain wealth through the worst situation.

Cannabis is not plutonium. Life insurance is a serious tool for serious business. If you are looking at building your dreams then put a couple of dollars down to make sure that your friends and family can get there with out you.

Legal Issues

My father was a character (he taught himself to drive by taking cars for a 'test drive' off a sales lot and gave me a unique set of rules growing up. Rule 1. Don't get caught. Rule 2. Run real fast. Rule 3. Have a good lawyer. Rebelling is a good thing. Because of my father's example, I became a very, honest individual. I do keep in the back of my mind a collection of 'Good Lawyers'. They are useful. It seems like the Jerk factory is working overtime and not enough people want to settle disagreements like adults. The best one that I have encountered in Washington State for the Cannabis Industry would be Benjamin Schuster.

I met Benjamin Schuster with the Washington Cannabis Institute. He knows law and doesn't hide behind perception, behind organizations. This is the person that I do my best to call when I have time available in Seattle because he has a great brain for this. He is one of the best people to know in the industry. You can reach Ben at 206-818-0564 or ben@nwcannabislaw.com.

Get it Dry and move it out

I have done everything from sun drying on screens to thousands of feet of industrial dryers. As a kid on my grandparents strawberry farm, we took screens and saw horses and dried berries. As an adult, I dried hundreds of thousands of pounds of apples commercially. Dehydrating consumables has been around since the dawn of time. Time can be money and if you have more things than to watch buds dry then I want you to look at dehydration.

Artificial dehydration is easy as everything is uniform. It literally works like this: Hot air + time = moisture loss through a membrane. Hot air holds more moisture than cold air. If you go too fast then risk shocking the membrane. (It's like searing a steak). The nonconformity of organic material makes it challenging and brings artistry to science. You put in controls and adjustments and that compensates for the seemingly random nature of vegetation.

The secret to stopping bacteria and mildew is moisture control. Living Cannabis plants have about 80% water. Fungi likes product with more than 15% moisture. If it is below 10% then it is brittle and can break apart. (Depending on what you are doing this low moisture level may be desired!)The sweet spot is between 10% and 15%. You want this moisture level uniform throughout the product.

Most are afraid of oven drying because it can lead to harsh product. (Remember that seared steak I was talking about?) Even grey mold dies if plants are carefully and quickly dried. Oven-cured pot rots less than air or sweat-cured crops. The risk is oxidizing the THC and reducing its potential. I am not going to tell you all of the secrets. The recommendations that I have seen is keep it below 200 Fahrenheit and no longer than 10 minutes under heat.

When you start adding checks to the moisture level, you will see some things happen. You will find out that it does not dry in a uniform manner. There will be plateaus where your pot keeps the same moisture for a long time and valleys where it dries quickly. A hot product will speed up extraction of moisture while increased airflow will pull it from the outside. There are limits to drying product.

Just like growing, controlling the environment, you control the quality of your product. What happens to your process if it is raining or temperature is below freezing? Are you checking the moisture content of the air? How are you maintaining the moisture level? By asking and answering questions, you create a process for excellent finished product.

There is even machines like the CannTrol Vulcan 50 which is designed to go into a 1300 square foot room and dry 50 lbs of weed in 7 to 10 business days. If you have $20K extra and quality smokable product in about a 1/3 of the time then this is an option.

If you have product that is hanging around for weeks in drafty warehouse then you are not making money and you are just exposing yourself to risk. Look at improving your drying process.

The Halloween Edition

As a dad with an eight year old, I have the time of my life with Halloween. We dress up in costumes, carve pumpkins, trick or treat. We love the holiday. It is a tradition. Heck, even my parents met on a Halloween. I was wondering how legalized marijuana was going to effect this holiday.

I started looking around. How many poisoning in the last 50 or so years? The truth in the matter is that the odds of encountering doped candy from a stranger is close to winning the lottery twice, the same day. Until 2000, there hadn't been a single case of a stranger tampering with candy and getting a child sick. It just doesn't happen. The one that sparks the biggest fear was from an insurance fraud case in 1974.

Edibles from a 502 Retailer have labeling guidelines. They will look something like the cookie to the left with the dosage and information clearly marked. What are the odds that someone is going to slip your kid a $40 cookie when spending $7 for a bag of little Snickers bars to hand out seems like a lot. If you want to take a look at the requirements then look at 314-55-105. It is a pretty ugly base and doesn't look like your typical Halloween candy.

So go out have fun this holiday. Halloween is one of the safest holidays out there (be watchful of traffic). Legal Marijuana will have little impact on Halloween except for fear driven posts. Here a video to share:

Croptober Fest!!! Oct 25

Did you go to Hempfest? How about Cannabis Cup? Who wants a event closer to home? The 25th is fast approaching. In what you save in gas, you can meet some of the people that are changing the Cannabis Industry here in Washington State. Yes, there are both Medical and Recreational businesses here so it is an excellent networking resource.


Cause M is a great group. I have been trading information with them for a few months and got to meet them for the first time at the Spokane CCSE mixer. I have attended a few of their meetings on Wednesday nights and you really never know who is going to pop in with some ground breaking information. Last weeks meeting, we worked on selecting what was important for this next legislative session.

The location for Croptober is:

Yakima Valley Hop & Brew Supply
702 N 1st Ave
Yakima, WA 98902

Tickets: Saturday, October 25, 2014 from 12:30 PM to 11:30 PM (PDT)
Don't Bogart this info, share and get involved.

Why I hate the excise tax on 502 and why you should too.

It drives revenue to the state and this is a great thing. A lot of money to the state, Spokane Review estimates $25,000,000 by next July. As I became involved with the industry and found more professionals, I could see some serious problems that are not thought out. Some people have leapt without understanding a How do excise taxes impact the business owner with a sole proprietor or LLC Corporation? Where is it going to be spent?

1. The Excise Tax is part of your gross receipts. It is not written off so you pay more for your insurance policy. I had a client come to me yesterday with a story of another agent telling him to exclude the excise tax from his gross receipt. The simplest way is the amount of money to get product out the door is your gross receipt.
2. The business owner has to list the tax with the IRS as profit. That’s right say hello to higher income taxes to the Feds. The comfort is that when you retire, you will enjoy the higher contribution that you made if Social Security is still around.
3. Say goodbye to reduced Health Insurance Premiums if you are planning on using the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the individual level. The figures are based on your income level so if you have a modest production that you are paying $100,000 in taxes and squeezed out $15,000 in personal income instead of no cost health insurance then you are paying the full amount. Since the Health Insurance is in a transition figuring out premium levels for the next couple of years this could mean thousands if you are an older citizen or have a large family. Your staff can get some great benefits for low cost however whoever is taking the tax burden will be paying higher premiums for their health insurance.

I have known several successful entrepreneurs in the medical marijuana industry stay away from Recreational for some of those three reasons. You can find me at CCSE, Cause M and other organizations for the industry talking about how to improve your Cannabis business. I spend money and time to help hire lobbyist to get the laws written to improve our industry.

My biggest beef is that 50% of the funds go to a program that ended in 2013 and the legislatures are fighting over which special interest receives the funds. It is Cannabis money and It needs to be put to a good use. If this isn’t a reason for rewriting laws then I don’t know what is.

If the excise tax stays in place then the Recreational Cannabis Industry will struggle with profits. If it moves to a pass through tax then at least the business owners have some tools for the profitability of their business that other industries have the luxury to use. Get involved with professionals in the Industry. Time is running out and a lot of work has to be done to create functional laws. Help keep the dream alive by owning your business.