I bought legal pot today. Ask me anything!

[chknltl]

46. I care for the underground market growers

I have known quite a few small time growers. There is something of a misconception out there that pot growers live the life of Riley. Most of the have growers I have known grow pot as their sole source of income. Of these growers, most of the luckier ones have done nothing else for a decade or more. From an economics sense, these Mom and Pop Ops spend pretty much most everything they earn as growers on the basics: food, rent, gas for the car and electricity. After bills there is rarely much more left over. I could provide details as to why this is should you want to learn more.

We are a large cottage industry here in Western Washington and like any large cottage industry we contribute greatly to our local economies.

Here is why I care: What makes more sense, trying to find jobs for countless thousands of growers who have little to put on their resume's other than Pot Grower or appreciate and protect us for the wonderful cottage industry that we are? I worry about outside influences who would drive our struggling Mom and Pop OPs out of business. California outdoor growers would love to sell their tonnage up here taking Washington dollars back to their communities in California. Big business from around the world are looking to move in to Washington, to set up and eventually 'corner the market'. In either case the local small time growers get driven out of business.

Like I said earlier, most of us local growers never got rich and for many of us we don't really know how to do much else. I am one of the luckier ones because I get a military pension but without that pension I would be struggling too. I don't know what the future of pot in Washington State will be like but I sure hope that our State's cottage industry pot growers have a dynamic part in it. Not just for ourselves but for the benefit of the overall State economy.