Going into business

From California's East Bay Express:

Huge, Legal Cannabis Farm Study Surprises Industry, Officials
The groundbreaking study showing how the City of Oakland could make $2 million per year licensing a medical cannabis growing warehouse caught many locals by surprise this week. Even though city officials and the cannabis industry are looking toward licensing large-scale grows allowed under state law SB 420, the hard numbers appear to be the first of their kind. Economist Joanne Brion of Brion and Associates, who did the six-month, $16,000 report said she was surprised at how potent an economic force cannabis is.

�My gut instinct said that this would be a great revenue and job generator for the city,� she said. "But after running the numbers, �I went, �Wow, that�s really a job generator.'"

Brion�s report found that licensing a seven-acre cannabis growing facility near I-880 at the Embarcadero would create up to 371 union jobs, paying an average salary of $53,700 a year. The site could produce an average of 58 pounds of cannabis per day, and generate gross revenues of around $59 million per year. The site would grow an estimated quarter of one percent of the estimated 8.6 million pounds of cannabis cultivated annually in California.

Jeff Wilcox, founder of AgraMed � a non-profit mutual benefit company set up in Oakland specifically to cultivate medical cannabis � commissioned the study. Wilcox, a retired construction company owner, wants to redevelop a seven-acre parcel he owns near I-880 and the Embarcadero. His four-building parcel abuts the Harborside Health Center, which is the West Coast�s most prestigious medical cannabis dispensary.

Absolutely -- produce a standardized product and tax it. Win/Win The amount of tax revenues to be had always makes me wonder who is being paid off to keep it illegal...