Seminars Teach Budding Pot Entrepreneurs how to Start Marijuana Business

The Washington Cannabis Institute with the help of attorneys, business professionals, and other industry experts are providing seminars to help budding entrepreneurs start their own marijuana business in the state of Washington. After Initiative 502 passed in 2012, Washington became one of just two states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. This means the need for marijuana growers, retail stores, and transportation businesses.

These weekend seminars will discuss everything from the cultivation of marijuana to current state pot laws regulating the sales of marijuana and the seminar's curriculum is designed specifically to help students and entrepreneurs understand the regulations and licensing requirements of running a legal pot business. Some of these classes will be given by attorneys in the Washington area who are familiar with these new pot laws and other classes will be run by successful marijuana growers and sellers who can offer valuable tips and real world advice about running a pot business.

These seminars are particularly useful now that Washington officials have finally set a few rules that must be followed by all marijuana industry professionals. These rules include tracking pot sales from "seed to store" and putting a limit on how many pot stores will be allowed to operate in one county. Washington also plans to use the criminal history point system to determine eligibility for procuring a license to legally grow and sell marijuana. 

War Against Marijuana Has Cost Taxpayers Dearly

Throughout Washington, legalized marijuana has become mainstream conversation. In fact, all across the country, more and more legislators and public officials are talking about the decriminalization of marijuana and the legalization of pot. One of the main reasons for all this talk is that as a nation we have seen a cultural shift in how we perceive marijuana and those who use it. In addition, the massive amounts of federal money that is spent to control marijuana use has many questioning if that money could be better spent elsewhere.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stated that over $3.6 billion a year is used in the enforcement of laws against drug possession (88% for marijuana related possession arrests). Our taxpayer dollars are hard at work to police, control, and limit the use of marijuana across the country. In fact, the War on Drugs has spent more than $1 trillion since its inception.

Here are some more startling statistics on the War against Marijuana:

• States will spend an estimated $20 billion to enforce marijuana laws over the next 6 years alone
• Each state pays approximately $750 per marijuana arrest
• $95 a day is spent housing each inmate that is arrested due to a marijuana-related offense
• The New York Police Department spent 1 million hours enforcing low-level marijuana offenses between   2002 and 2012
• One marijuana arrest is made every 42 seconds in the United States

Now, Washington and Colorado have legalized marijuana and hope to benefit economically from the tax revenue that will come from the sales, production, and farming of marijuana. In addition, those states will spend less money arresting and sentencing individuals for marijuana related crimes. How much revenue the state will earn from legalized marijuana remains to be seen. Yet many who support the legalization of marijuana believe legalized pot will ultimately be good for all taxpayers.