Medical Pot dispensary

I had dinner with a couple where the husband is applying for a medical pot dispensary. He must post 5k non refundable application fee in two counties. He is fingerprinted and given a background check. He must have $400,000 in an escrow fund, and he must have a retail location with detailed security and layout per the requirements of the statute, which meets all zoning laws. A grower license cost about a million dollars and he does not want to take the risk of the feds coming in in the next two years and busting the operation. He figures he can gross a couple million in sales and net a million dollars profit a year. The county he is trying to establish his dispensary will only allow three licenses.

The state is wanting the applicants to show financial responsibility and meet all the stringent video and security requirements. I asked him why the large escrow accounts and he said talking to the regulators the banks cannot make loans to these operations because the feds still consider it a crime. The folks that get these retail licenses will make a million a year.

Illinois.

As to doctors making a buck.....nope. They have much more stringent regulations than other states. People will have to show that they were under a doctors care for six months or a year, and already the dirty doctors have tried advertising that they will write scripts for pain, and three have been arrested according to the husband who is applying for the license. He is a retired businessman with millions in the bank and has brought a manager from Colorado to provide the technical expertise for his application. They are letting folks know that if you are going to play games with this in the beginning, they are going to prosecute.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-marijuana-business-20140214,0,4563513.story#axzz2tRpvQw7M

What would be the difference between this and methadone clinics which are privately owned? They make millions dispensing addictive drugs to people.

I see too little distinction to enact a prison system over it beyond rehab and habitual controls... and harm done.

It's already illegal to drive around blitzed.

2seaoat wrote:I had dinner with a couple where the husband is applying for a medical pot dispensary.  He must post 5k non refundable application fee in two counties.  He is fingerprinted and given a background check.  He must have $400,000 in an escrow fund, and he must have a retail location with detailed security and layout per the requirements of the statute, which meets all zoning laws.  A grower license cost about a million dollars and he does not want to take the risk of the feds coming in in the next two years and busting the operation.  He figures he can gross a couple million in sales and net a million dollars profit a year.  The county he is trying to establish his dispensary will only allow three licenses.

The state is wanting the applicants to show financial responsibility and meet all the stringent video and security requirements.  I asked him why the large escrow accounts and he said talking to the regulators the banks cannot make loans to these operations because the feds still consider it a crime.  The folks that get these retail licenses will make a million a year.

Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Obama administration will allow banks to do business with licensed marijuana companies with a reduced fear of criminal prosecution if the banks meet a series of conditions, a U.S. Justice Department official said on Friday.

The Justice and Treasury departments were preparing written guidance that would stop short of promising immunity for banks but make clear that prosecution for money-laundering and other crimes was unlikely if they cooperated with regulators, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the release of official memoranda.

The guidance was intended to increase the availability of banking services, such as savings and checking accounts, to marijuana shops that typically deal in cash, the official said
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/14/usa-marijuana-banking-idUSL2N0LJ1AC20140214

The feds giving indications that they will not raid state dispensaries will make this much less risky for investors.