Business Side Of Medical Marijuana Comes To Old City
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Coinciding with Philly Tech week, hundreds of medicinal cannabis entrepreneurs from around the country gathered in Old City for the first time, to brainstorm what's next.
Companies and cash often wait, sometimes for years, on the sidelines of states where medicinal cannabis could soon become legal. That has certainly been the case for "Cannabusinesses" banking on Pennsylvania.
At 24 years old, David Goldstein is an already seasoned pioneer on the frontier of Medical Marijuana. He's the co-founder and CEO of Potbotics, a digital bridge between patients and doctors.
"We created a platform. It's called 'PotBot'. It allows patients to look at, 'What are the existing studies done on cannabis based on their ailment? And how they can better start that conversation with their doctor," he said after speaking at the Saturday event.
Mark Doherty, Sales Director for Urban-Gro was also a featured speaker. His company oversees pest management and lighting at Marijuana Cultivation sites.
"This is an industry like any other industry that wants to operate in the open and operate with transparency," he said.
That time has some for the plethora of Cannabis oriented companies who have taken swift action since Pennsylvania Tom Wolf's April, 17th signature was provided. The law that will legalize the use of Medicinal Marijuana to those suffering from 17 (proposed) ailments will go into effect mid-May. Smoking cannabis, or consuming Marijuana-infused "edibles" will not be permitted under Senate Bill 3.
So what about those interested in participating at the heart of the matter?
Applications for growing or starting a dispensary are not being accepted just yet, but according to Green Rush Consulting, now is the time to start planning – and, well – saving.
For potential growers they project start-up fees to exceed $220,000 with an additional $2,000,000 in capital required.
Applying for a Pennsylvania dispensary license is likely to cost about $40,000 to register with a $150,000 capital requirement.
But for the Old City crowd, the talk at the conference largely extended beyond pot and into the logistics, infrastructure needs, and technology that comes with it.
The "Green Rush" is being compared to the "Gold Rush", where some of the biggest opportunities had little to do with Gold itself.
"The people selling picks and shovels and Levi Jeans made a fortune," added Doherty.
