FruityBud
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Dustin Bohnett spent many years suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and hoped marijuana would give him relief from severe chronic pain.
But as the Onondaga Township man was about to receive state certification to grow and use medical marijuana, the 25-year-old realized one thing: When it came to a green thumb, he was all thumbs.
Bohnett knew he couldn't turn to Better Homes and Gardens. So he went back to school. At HydroCollege in Lansing, he learned the craft of growing marijuana indoors and now cultivates a marijuana "garden" in his basement - under the nurturing glow of 1,000-watt lamps.
"I had never grown (a marijuana plant) on my own. I had never seen anyone grow one," Bohnett said. "I never would have known how the hydroponics system works."
When it comes to growing marijuana, course instructor Danny Trevino of Lansing is the answer man. He's a self-proclaimed, self-taught guru of green, a professor of pot. Trevino, 37, teaches the three-day course at his business, HydroCollege, at 702 W. Barnes Ave. in Lansing.
The course - one of only a handful of such programs in Michigan - reflects how entrepreneurs are filling the gaps in a new state medical marijuana law. After a ballot initiative was approved in November 2008, the state launched a program last spring to certify patients and caregivers but provided no resources on how to grow marijuana or even acquire seeds.
"They call me Dr. Danny," said Trevino, who also has operated HydroWorld, a hydroponics business, at the same location for four years. Hydroponics is a system for growing plants without soil.
Trevino, who has no college degree, sees his business as a bright spot in an otherwise dreary state economy.
"I think Lansing has a good chance of being a stronghold (in the emerging marijuana economy)," he said. "The economy being so bad, a lot of people are coming here to the class" for income opportunities.
Since Trevino started teaching the classes a year ago, Trevino said chatter on marijuana Web sites has led to students coming in from as far away as Hawaii and Florida. In nearly all cases, he said, they learn to grow the medicinal marijuana for themselves or for others under state guidelines.
As of Friday, the state had authorized 6,844 patients to use medical marijuana statewide and 2,856 as caregivers, said Kelly Niebel, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Community Health.
During the course, students learn Trevino's own techniques for cultivating an indoor marijuana garden and how to best nurture and fertilize the plants. This is knowledge he says he has gleaned from 19 years of growing marijuana himself and educating himself on techniques from books and magazines.
Trevino, who is state-certified to grow marijuana for back pain, uses his plants in class as visual aids.
Without proper instruction, he said, it can take up to three years for a novice to figure out how to successfully grow the plants. Novices may not know when to start using high intensity discharge lamps in the growth cycle or whether male or female marijuana plants offer more buds.
Trevino insists his students aren't just learning how to grow marijuana for recreational use, saying "90 to 95 percent of them have the state (medical marijuana) card."
With medical marijuana now legal, Trevino is seeing his business grow in new ways. In recent weeks, he opened HydroClinic in which he contracts with a Detroit physician to offer physicals to determine whether a person is eligible to use medical marijuana under state law. Those applying for state certification to use medical marijuana must have a doctor's recommendation.
Trevino acknowledges he used to deal marijuana illegally in his younger days but said his business represents a new era in his life.
"I took so many bad turns," he said. "They said do what you love, and the money will flow."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yd3ngku
But as the Onondaga Township man was about to receive state certification to grow and use medical marijuana, the 25-year-old realized one thing: When it came to a green thumb, he was all thumbs.
Bohnett knew he couldn't turn to Better Homes and Gardens. So he went back to school. At HydroCollege in Lansing, he learned the craft of growing marijuana indoors and now cultivates a marijuana "garden" in his basement - under the nurturing glow of 1,000-watt lamps.
"I had never grown (a marijuana plant) on my own. I had never seen anyone grow one," Bohnett said. "I never would have known how the hydroponics system works."
When it comes to growing marijuana, course instructor Danny Trevino of Lansing is the answer man. He's a self-proclaimed, self-taught guru of green, a professor of pot. Trevino, 37, teaches the three-day course at his business, HydroCollege, at 702 W. Barnes Ave. in Lansing.
The course - one of only a handful of such programs in Michigan - reflects how entrepreneurs are filling the gaps in a new state medical marijuana law. After a ballot initiative was approved in November 2008, the state launched a program last spring to certify patients and caregivers but provided no resources on how to grow marijuana or even acquire seeds.
"They call me Dr. Danny," said Trevino, who also has operated HydroWorld, a hydroponics business, at the same location for four years. Hydroponics is a system for growing plants without soil.
Trevino, who has no college degree, sees his business as a bright spot in an otherwise dreary state economy.
"I think Lansing has a good chance of being a stronghold (in the emerging marijuana economy)," he said. "The economy being so bad, a lot of people are coming here to the class" for income opportunities.
Since Trevino started teaching the classes a year ago, Trevino said chatter on marijuana Web sites has led to students coming in from as far away as Hawaii and Florida. In nearly all cases, he said, they learn to grow the medicinal marijuana for themselves or for others under state guidelines.
As of Friday, the state had authorized 6,844 patients to use medical marijuana statewide and 2,856 as caregivers, said Kelly Niebel, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Community Health.
During the course, students learn Trevino's own techniques for cultivating an indoor marijuana garden and how to best nurture and fertilize the plants. This is knowledge he says he has gleaned from 19 years of growing marijuana himself and educating himself on techniques from books and magazines.
Trevino, who is state-certified to grow marijuana for back pain, uses his plants in class as visual aids.
Without proper instruction, he said, it can take up to three years for a novice to figure out how to successfully grow the plants. Novices may not know when to start using high intensity discharge lamps in the growth cycle or whether male or female marijuana plants offer more buds.
Trevino insists his students aren't just learning how to grow marijuana for recreational use, saying "90 to 95 percent of them have the state (medical marijuana) card."
With medical marijuana now legal, Trevino is seeing his business grow in new ways. In recent weeks, he opened HydroClinic in which he contracts with a Detroit physician to offer physicals to determine whether a person is eligible to use medical marijuana under state law. Those applying for state certification to use medical marijuana must have a doctor's recommendation.
Trevino acknowledges he used to deal marijuana illegally in his younger days but said his business represents a new era in his life.
"I took so many bad turns," he said. "They said do what you love, and the money will flow."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yd3ngku
