Medical Marijuana: Michigan's New Cash Crop

Michigan's legalization of medical marijuana this year has spawned a huge interest in the growing medical marijuana for profit. The interest is so great that a new school in Southfield has formed to teach students the fine art of growing, the history, and the legal aspects of being a caregiver under the new medical marijuana laws of Michigan. The growing of medical marijuana could bring in millions of dollars to the state of Michigan in tax revenue.

Since Michigan's medical marijuana laws are so new many fear reprisals from prosecution so this new cash crop business is kept pretty low key. I have been spending quite a lot of time at the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association forum in preparation for this article. It seems there is a lot of confusion as far as determining the law, growing the marijuana and at what price to charge for growing the marijuana as a caregiver. This group of people does seem to be trying to form a standard at which all are working together for the compassion of the medical marijuana patient.

Growing medical marijuana is still a federal offense, but the Obama administration has informed the DEA to step back and let the states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana handle the legalities of its laws. No federal prosecution has occurred yet in Michigan.

According to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Program, a qualifying patient must get a written consent from a doctor that their condition meets the requirements under the Michigan law to obtain a patient medical card from the Michigan Department of Community Health. The application fee is $100. The patient can designate a primary caregiver that is 21 or older and does not have a prior felony drug conviction on their record.

Why would a medical marijuana patient choose a caregiver?

The laws of Michigan state that the medical marijuana must be grown in an enclosed locked environment. Growing marijuana can be very costly. A growing room can cost anywhere from 3k to 25k. Marijuana plants need to be tended to daily. Something a sick patient may not be up to doing. Growing marijuana requires more than just sticking a plant in dirt and watering it. A marijuana grower needs to know how to grow certain strains of marijuana, how to propagate the plant, how to dry the right parts of the plant, how to produce the proper type of marijuana according to the patients needs and how much to charge the patient for their services. Growing good medical marijuana requires a great deal of know how. The caregiver needs to know the laws in regards to what the patient is allowed to have in supply as well as how much marijuana is allowed on the premises of the caregiver. Some medical marijuana patients cannot inhale the marijuana because of lung conditions so the patient or caregiver needs to know how to turn the product into a liquid that the patient can use.

How many marijuana plants can you have?

A medical marijuana patient is allowed to have 12 cannabis plants at one time. These are usually plants growing at various stages as to not run out of dried marijuana to use. It is a very complex process.

A caregiver can have up to 5 patients. This is where the cash crop comes in. A caregiver caring for 5 patients pretty much has a full time bus9iness on their hands. Growing 60 cannabis plants can take up a lot of space. Plus with marijuana growing indoors requires a controlled climate. Consider growing lights, a hydroponic system, and air conditioners, watering and pruning these plants, the caregiver is kept quite busy. The cost to the caregiver is quite high, especially when you consider the extremely high electric bill. Also the caregiver can never go on vacation as these plants need daily attention, 365 days a year. Remember no one can tend to these plants except for the assigned caregiver. Add on top of all this the fear of prosecution as this law is so new and the law is very gray in its explanation. This is going to keep the cost to the patients up around $300 an ounce, none of which is covered under medical insurance.

As the economy in Michigan continues to dwindle there is little doubt that many people are going to jump on the opportunity to become caregivers. People who never have had any contact with marijuana prior to Michigan's legalization of medical marijuana, are considering becoming caregivers just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. There will be more caregivers in the beginning than patients that need the marijuana. According to the Michigan.gov website as of November 30, 2009 there have been 5,873 patient registrations issued and 2,440 caregiver registrations issued through the Michigan Medical Marihuana Program since April 6, 2009.

Source: Michigan Medical Marihuana Program
Michigan Medical Marijuana Association