So, you want to start a medical marijuana collective..

Dispensary, Cannabis Club, Collective.. Whatever you call it they are all essentially run in a similar manner and can be started in the same way.  For example, you can start a growers collective and eventually turn it into a storefront dispensary.

Over the next week or so I will show you how I went from a regular stoner to a collective owner.  Last week I have outlined the initial steps you need to take to get your doctors recommendation.  Now I will outline all the additional steps needed to turn your doctors recommendation into your own collective and eventually into a store front dispensary serving thousands of patients (if that’s your goal).

When I first started writing this blog my main goal was to reach out to all the marijuana patients that just want to start a small grow by themselves and maybe a few friends and show them how to do this with out having to worry about the cops.  I have chosen to show you what I believe is the simplest and shortest way to forming a legal medical marijuana collective in California right now, without hiring a lawyer or accountant (although, if you plan on becoming a big operation I recommend both) and without having to do extensive research.  And, if you choose to take more advanced steps, such as incorporating your business I will show you how to do that as well. 

For any normal person wanting to start a medical marijuana collective you should be able to go through each of the steps I will outline here and have your grow operation running within a week (a month if you choose to incorporate) and you will be fully legal according to California state law as of March 2010.

As of today this business structure should be able to allow you to turn your collective into a storefront dispensary if you should choose to do so, and I will offer recommendations.  It should also easily allow you to be able to turn your collective or dispensary into a for-profit venture (unlike the non-profit route) should marijuana be legalized in the near future.  However, I do not know how the legal battle will be played out by the state and there may be additional licensing or fees to be paid in the future in order to keep your collective running, or to make it for-profit should marijuana be legalized in CA.

I will eventually also include an extensive resource section on the right below the search function that includes what I feel are the most useful resources on the Internet or at your local bookstore.  Eventually I will separate them into categories to make it easy for you to reference a site or book according to the step you’re on.

After you've followed the previous weeks posts and gotten your medical marijuana doctors recommendation you can jump to tomorrows post for the next step.  Tomorrow I will go over some considerations you should make before starting your collective.