burnin1
Well-Known Member
From salemnews.com
Texas cannabis capitalists are ready to seed the soil
Posted: Thursday, August 6, 2015 10:00 am
By John Austin / CNHI State Reporter Salem News
AUSTIN - Texans with epilepsy may not be buying legal cannabis oil here until 2017, but home-grown entrepreneurs are already lining up for a cut of the mainstream marijuana business.
If theres any doubt about their belief in marijuana as a medical remedy, five words underscore their seriousness: Texas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce.
The group is one of several - others include the Texas Cannabis Industry Association, Christians for Liberty and the Med Can Foundation - with meetings this weekend in Austin to address the state's budding, legal marijuana trade.
A recent seminar by the Texas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce in Arlington drew 112 people, said Jonathan Villagomez, one of its founders.
The opportunities are endless in this industry," he said. "There are so many ways to profit.
Heather Fazio, of the Marijuana Policy Project, cautions that the limited scope of Texas compassionate care law will limit opportunities for making big money.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in June that allows for the limited use of non-intoxicating cannabidiol oil, extracted from marijuana plants, for patients with epilepsy. The law calls on regulators to approve at least three dispensaries by September 2017.
An estimated 150,000 Texans with epilepsy may be the only ones to initially benefit from the law, but Chris Miller, a Weatherford investor who attended the Arlington conference, said that's clearly just the start.
Anybody can see the wave coming, said Miller, 42, who said he's following the state's still-developing rules for obtaining licenses to grow, manufacture and dispense cannabidiol. Its only a matter of time before Texas legalizes it.
Miller said he has $500,000 to invest and is looking to set up a dispensary.
"I have a partner. I have a banker. Ive lined up an attorney. Im setting myself up to be in the running from the get go," he said.
Miller also wants to be a grower.
I can tell you anything you want to know about it, and then some, said Miller, who has been a teacher and worked in a medical device startup.
Many others are involved in the green gold rush, including some at the fringes of the budding industry.
An example is Tony Gallo, a security consultant who lives in North Richland Hills, near Fort Worth, who said he works with legal marijuana clients from Washington state to New Jersey.
We do security for high-risk businesses that have a large amount of cash and a desirable inventory, said Gallo. Were the only company in the industry that does not sell a product.
Gallo said running a marijuana dispensary, which some of his clients do, is similar to owning a pawn shop or jewelry store. They take in cash, hand out a product, and control potential losses from robbery and employee theft.
Its the dot-com of our generation, he said of legalized marijuana. But its a business. Its not Cheech and Chong. Its not a head shop.
Steven Siegel runs a business that he never thought had a marijuana connection - inventory control.
A federal contractor who was already working to track controlled drugs such as Oxycontin, Siegel said someone called him 10 years ago and asked if he could track marijuana.
The answer was yes. Now clients across the country use his seed-to-sale software.
Marijuana is tracked more closely than alcohol and tobacco, said Siegel, founder of Bio Track THC in Fort Lauderdale. Every gram that is grown is tracked in real time.
Villagomez said entrepreneurs in Texas can start tapping those kinds of opportunities. Villagomez, 29, who lives in Houston, manufactures grow lights in China. Now he wants to turn other Texans onto the legal possibilities he sees.
Now we have laws, he said. Perceptions are about to get flipped.
John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Contact him at [email protected]
http://www.salemnews.com/cnhi_netwo...cle_5de41120-540e-5bf4-ac92-ab1b5cc5537e.html
Texas cannabis capitalists are ready to seed the soil
Posted: Thursday, August 6, 2015 10:00 am
By John Austin / CNHI State Reporter Salem News
AUSTIN - Texans with epilepsy may not be buying legal cannabis oil here until 2017, but home-grown entrepreneurs are already lining up for a cut of the mainstream marijuana business.
If theres any doubt about their belief in marijuana as a medical remedy, five words underscore their seriousness: Texas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce.
The group is one of several - others include the Texas Cannabis Industry Association, Christians for Liberty and the Med Can Foundation - with meetings this weekend in Austin to address the state's budding, legal marijuana trade.
A recent seminar by the Texas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce in Arlington drew 112 people, said Jonathan Villagomez, one of its founders.
The opportunities are endless in this industry," he said. "There are so many ways to profit.
Heather Fazio, of the Marijuana Policy Project, cautions that the limited scope of Texas compassionate care law will limit opportunities for making big money.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in June that allows for the limited use of non-intoxicating cannabidiol oil, extracted from marijuana plants, for patients with epilepsy. The law calls on regulators to approve at least three dispensaries by September 2017.
An estimated 150,000 Texans with epilepsy may be the only ones to initially benefit from the law, but Chris Miller, a Weatherford investor who attended the Arlington conference, said that's clearly just the start.
Anybody can see the wave coming, said Miller, 42, who said he's following the state's still-developing rules for obtaining licenses to grow, manufacture and dispense cannabidiol. Its only a matter of time before Texas legalizes it.
Miller said he has $500,000 to invest and is looking to set up a dispensary.
"I have a partner. I have a banker. Ive lined up an attorney. Im setting myself up to be in the running from the get go," he said.
Miller also wants to be a grower.
I can tell you anything you want to know about it, and then some, said Miller, who has been a teacher and worked in a medical device startup.
Many others are involved in the green gold rush, including some at the fringes of the budding industry.
An example is Tony Gallo, a security consultant who lives in North Richland Hills, near Fort Worth, who said he works with legal marijuana clients from Washington state to New Jersey.
We do security for high-risk businesses that have a large amount of cash and a desirable inventory, said Gallo. Were the only company in the industry that does not sell a product.
Gallo said running a marijuana dispensary, which some of his clients do, is similar to owning a pawn shop or jewelry store. They take in cash, hand out a product, and control potential losses from robbery and employee theft.
Its the dot-com of our generation, he said of legalized marijuana. But its a business. Its not Cheech and Chong. Its not a head shop.
Steven Siegel runs a business that he never thought had a marijuana connection - inventory control.
A federal contractor who was already working to track controlled drugs such as Oxycontin, Siegel said someone called him 10 years ago and asked if he could track marijuana.
The answer was yes. Now clients across the country use his seed-to-sale software.
Marijuana is tracked more closely than alcohol and tobacco, said Siegel, founder of Bio Track THC in Fort Lauderdale. Every gram that is grown is tracked in real time.
Villagomez said entrepreneurs in Texas can start tapping those kinds of opportunities. Villagomez, 29, who lives in Houston, manufactures grow lights in China. Now he wants to turn other Texans onto the legal possibilities he sees.
Now we have laws, he said. Perceptions are about to get flipped.
John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Contact him at [email protected]
http://www.salemnews.com/cnhi_netwo...cle_5de41120-540e-5bf4-ac92-ab1b5cc5537e.html
