Starting a 'Indoor Garden Consultants' business; is this viable/legal?

[theJointedOne]

I want to expand my horizons if you will and a patient friend and i were thinking of starting a small business doing consulting on indoor gardens for medical patients in our county. Having been through the legal process with 215/420 before, the only real snag I could think of is they might try to get me for conspiracy b/c we would be helping to facilitate the cultivation of cannabis.

i am not really aware of things that are going on in the bigger parts of the state, is any body else doing this?

It seems like it could get a lot of patients the foot in the door on their path to providing their own meds.

Let me know what you guys think.

I want to do outdoor help also when spring comes.

peace

 

[grouchy]

Might not be the answer you are looking for but couldn't you teach them how to grow tomatoes in their closet?

 

[ganjapool]

people might be paranoid of getting ripped off at a later time. Folks won't bring just anyone to their spots legal or not.
If you could get folks to trust you then you might have a chance.

 

[nomaad]

I think its a very viable business. I'd sit down with a lawyer and discuss the management of your exposure and wording of your contracts. There is nothing illegal about teaching somebody how to do something illegal.

 

[medmaker420]

I wouldn't want a consultation firm in my city, if I were a cop or dea that would be a good person/business to sweat for information.

Could it work? sure but I sure as hell wouldn't tell a firm where my grow is and how large it is or anything related to it including my name.

Write a book, make a video, pdf file, start a class like many are doing for dispensary startups but rather for garden training like they do in oakland.

I mean as far as consultation are you actually saying surveying the grow area, suggestions on setups, plant counts, grow style and all that jazz? And outdoors would that be going TO the grow area and suggesting in dirt, greenhouse or otherwise?

Seems like a lot of information about many personal growers all wrapped up in a sweet dea package to me.

NOW that I am done with that,

would it work? odds are yes and more power to you because ANYTHING that helps fellow med patients grow their own to me is a great thing. I think I am just too paranoid even as a med patient to have people I don't know consult me on my grow ever.

 

[SmokyMtnToker]

You could do it IF you were very explicit in your contracts. You could design and recommend anything you want as long as you do not take a positive step toward the furtherance of any crime. In other words, if you do not supply any seeds, or accept any proceeds known to come from a commercial grow..or in any way participate in the cultivation, then you could be OK.

ask a lawyer to be sure.

In my opinion, because a conspiracy requires at least two people, eaqch of whom have to take some step towrd the crime..just talking is not a conspiracy, some overt action must occur to turn it into a real offense..this keeps theoretical stuff from becoming illegal.

Hell, all you are doing is setting up a tomato grow...whatever seeds the guy puts in after you leave is his business..right?

 

[BowlPacks]

Yeah. I would just recommend that you have a contract drafted by an attorney that states you will not be in any contact with marijuana and that the indoor garden will not be used for cannabis. Just my .02

 

[WokkaWokka!]

It is a good idea and most growers could benefit from some professional advice. But there are major hurdles to overcome as long as growing is underground and so lucrative. Only an idiot would have a stranger in their garden and it's hard to compile a clientel of people you know to consult to.

I think that the most difficult thing in reality is getting paid! People are very hesitant to pay for words and for time, they just don't understand that time is money for for $40 an hour (what I charged when I consulted on grows) the client is gaining years of condensed experience, tips and knowledge that pay for themselves at least many times over if applied. Make it very clear that you are consulting for pay and it helps to wear a nice watch to keep time.

 

[theJointedOne]

I think its a very viable business. I'd sit down with a lawyer and discuss the management of your exposure and wording of your contracts. There is nothing illegal about teaching somebody how to do something illegal.

yeah lawyers....cant move without em these days it seems like

I wouldn't want a consultation firm in my city, if I were a cop or dea that would be a good person/business to sweat for information.

Could it work? sure but I sure as hell wouldn't tell a firm where my grow is and how large it is or anything related to it including my name.

Write a book, make a video, pdf file, start a class like many are doing for dispensary startups but rather for garden training like they do in oakland.

I mean as far as consultation are you actually saying surveying the grow area, suggestions on setups, plant counts, grow style and all that jazz? And outdoors would that be going TO the grow area and suggesting in dirt, greenhouse or otherwise?

Seems like a lot of information about many personal growers all wrapped up in a sweet dea package to me.

NOW that I am done with that,

would it work? odds are yes and more power to you because ANYTHING that helps fellow med patients grow their own to me is a great thing. I think I am just too paranoid even as a med patient to have people I don't know consult me on my grow ever.

well you just planted a great seed in my head. We have already started a collective and the store front should be up on a month or two. I might use your idea of implementing a grow class in conjunction with our collective. That way the patients don't have to feel like their space is being violated and they can still get that hands on experience with some one experienced there to guide them. Ooohh .....now i am even thinking of having "class gardens" inside/outside/ greenhouse/. Patients can see there progress and learn what works and what doesn't in this crazy climate i live in- which to me is a little looked at part of growing; knowing what grows where you live and having an idea of your specific climate needs and concerns.

And in an overall sense I really am striving to make our collective's dispensary WAY better than blue sky. Our meds will all be affordable, our clones will all be healthy and big, rooted and pest free..

It is a good idea and most growers could benefit from some professional advice. But there are major hurdles to overcome as long as growing is underground and so lucrative. Only an idiot would have a stranger in their garden and it's hard to compile a clientel of people you know to consult to.

I think that the most difficult thing in reality is getting paid! People are very hesitant to pay for words and for time, they just don't understand that time is money for for $40 an hour (what I charged when I consulted on grows) the client is gaining years of condensed experience, tips and knowledge that pay for themselves at least many times over if applied. Make it very clear that you are consulting for pay and it helps to wear a nice watch to keep time.

thats true




thanks for the replies and ideas. I am def going to try and see if we can get some classes going. I will let you all know how it goes

 

[deltronZER0]

I think alot of us on this site get a little overly paranoid, and since we're already here, odds are we know how and don't need anyone to teach us.
that said, I think there are alot of people that might be older and have a MMJ card for glacoma or cancer treatment or other more serious stuff and just have no idea about growing. I don't think people like that would care about letting someone help them.
If they've never grown or been on a site like this, why would they be paranoid?
plus, they're old, who's gonna suspect that granny down the way is growin' ganj?

 

[deltronZER0]

oh, and Nomaad, I wouldn't be so sure about the not being illegal to teach someone to do something illegal, pretty sure it'd qualify as either conspiracy or aiding and abeiting

 

[medmaker420]

yeah lawyers....cant move without em these days it seems like



well you just planted a great seed in my head. We have already started a collective and the store front should be up on a month or two. I might use your idea of implementing a grow class in conjunction with our collective. That way the patients don't have to feel like their space is being violated and they can still get that hands on experience with some one experienced there to guide them. Ooohh .....now i am even thinking of having "class gardens" inside/outside/ greenhouse/. Patients can see there progress and learn what works and what doesn't in this crazy climate i live in- which to me is a little looked at part of growing; knowing what grows where you live and having an idea of your specific climate needs and concerns.

And in an overall sense I really am striving to make our collective's dispensary WAY better than blue sky. Our meds will all be affordable, our clones will all be healthy and big, rooted and pest free..

thats true


thanks for the replies and ideas. I am def going to try and see if we can get some classes going. I will let you all know how it goes

I will take it one step further especially since you have a storefront. What if you allowed the patients to help tend the "co-op" garden and be able to partake in the fruits of their labor.

Maybe a set amount of "slots" per grow available. They would buy the soil/pots and so on and the up front cost for the "Shared electricity" to keep it within guidelines. Allow them to grow their very first plant! and then take that information home to try on their own.

There really are a million possibilities and ideas that can really take off especially with hands on experience with a growing instructor.

 

[nobull56]

My wife started a ‘Collective’ and her focus is on 215 folks that have difficulties getting out to a ‘store’. We feel (& a $500/hr attorney agrees) that ‘Helping collective members to grow their own’ is spot on to the intent of California’s mmj laws. Your issue will become gray if you charge them a cash fee. We have found that her members like to trade part of their grow for other varieties. After all ‘Variety is the Spice of Life’.

 

[nattynattygurrl]

Weird, this came up just yesterday. I was talking to a disp. owner, and he mentioned that he had a"consultant" advising him on his grow, (the guy is fairly well known in the canna-community.) There is definitely a market for this service, especially for patients. The main obstacles, as previously mentioned, surround it's legality... I wouldn't consider it unless you're in a place where medicinal cannabis is legal; and of course once you've consulted an attorney.

Good luck!

 

[Greyskull]

grow consultants are the next big canna job imo.

 

[theJointedOne]

I think alot of us on this site get a little overly paranoid, and since we're already here, odds are we know how and don't need anyone to teach us.
that said, I think there are alot of people that might be older and have a MMJ card for glacoma or cancer treatment or other more serious stuff and just have no idea about growing. I don't think people like that would care about letting someone help them.
If they've never grown or been on a site like this, why would they be paranoid?
plus, they're old, who's gonna suspect that granny down the way is growin' ganj?

Yeah you should see some of the faces of guys and gals who have been using our favorite flower for decades, yet have never been shown the proper...or should I say efficient ways to cultivate

 

[BKindication]

There is nothing illegal about teaching somebody how to do something illegal.

Unfortunately, under US federal RICO laws, this can be illegal. They compile the contacts between the two of you, dig up a paper trail, do some survey on your client's place and make a move on him, your involvement as a horticultural consultant could get your assets frozen and you a federal case. They'll make you out to be a kingpin. A client list like that will make it seem more like you're running an army of sharecroppers.

I vote great idea, but save it for after full legalization to be safe. And make sure you don't deal with people who are laundering money and avoiding taxes.

 

[Omerta]

all you guys who think your gunna be grow consultants and teachers better be cropping up some grade a fucking dank and have the facilities to prove it to expect pay for your "services". what is with everyone today thinking oh just take a class and learn how to be a marijuana guy/gal...the marijuana business should be closed too many idiots already trying to get involved

teach people how to grow fruit and vegetables itll solve more then just your credit card debt

 

[707Corridor]

You guys already got beat to the idea.

I saw a decent sized Ad for a Grow Consultant in west coast cannabis.