I actually have looked into marijuana growing and distribution licenses although the laws arent finalized in my state yet, they say by the end of this year they should be.
Unfortunately pennsylvania as of whats on the books right now, to become a licensed grower you need a $30,000 application fee, non refundable if you get denied, $50,000 licnse fee (yearly) and have to have $250,000 liquid cash on hand in addition to approved facility and must have distribution contracts lined up with licensed dispensaries in which you can only distribute to up to 5 dispensaries.
To start a dispensary you need a $10,000 application fee, nonrefundable, $25,000 license fee (yearly) and have to have $100,000 liquid cash on hand as well as a host of other particulars.
I am actually one hell of a grower with the right genetics to work with and have tons of knowledge on lighting (as a former lighting designer), nutrients, hydro systems, and contruction experience building grow houses, but the costs are just astronomical in the way the state is handling medicinal marijuana. Pennsylvania also is not going to approve any smokable marijuana for legal medical use, so no flowers (buds) can be sold. All crops will have to processed into edibles, tinktures, and pills and will have to be done by the growing facilities as the dispensaries are not allowed to alter any products and no flowers can be shipped out from a grow facility.
I had a business plan built to try and get investors and finding funding before i found out how astronomical the costs were and the whole no flowers being able to be sold throws a wrench in my plan. They are only going to approve 50 grow facilities for the entire state and 100 dispensary licenses, each dispensary license can have upto 3 locations, so thats pretty limited to be able to cover costs logistically and initially until enough doctors become certified by the state to issue prescriptions and enough people get approved for prescriptions.
In my math, the loses over the startup and initial years of operation, cost of production, and shelf life of product make it a difficult sell to someone willing to fund me without having a prior deals in the works with dispensaries. The seperation of the two operations make it an unknown variable in a world where investors want guaranteed returns on their investments before they will even consider your business model. Loans are difficult enough but the liquid cash requirements i think are ridiculous. My math says $10-20 million for a startup grow facility with major loses over the first years and no guarantees of turning or maintaining a profit margin with the endless regulations and fee structure they are putting in place. They still havent even decided the regulations on shipping yet and how much say counties and townships have in permittig the location of a facility.
@Blizzard you touched on my dream job that i have thought long and hard about for 10+ years but unfortunately i dont think i can ever make that dream a reality, especially with a history of mental instability. My best try would be to just work in a facility but my health records may not allow that either unless the Americans with Disabilities Act would override the state regulations they are putting in place. And it sucks because i am really really good at it and would enjoy it so much. My being a person of interest in prior growhouse busts, though i was never brought up on charges probably doesnt help either.
Sry to go on so long but you touched a nerve there. I dont know how the state expects the policies and practices to succeed with the lack of foresight they are using in creating the legislation. Unless they make some major changes to the rules they are setting in place, i see the whole thing being a struggling entity with poor economical benefit for those involved as well as the state. Unless the federal government puts something on the books i see funding as being nearly impossible with the constant risk of the feds able to possibly come in and confiscate your assets and send you to jail. They should be looking at the economical benefits of more lenient regulations and let small businesses and capitalism prevail as in the states out west, but we are talking about politicians here so i dont hold out much hope for rational thought. They are taking what could be a great thing and beating to a pulp with beurocricy. Hopefully im absolutely wrong and the whole thing becomes a booming industry helping consumers and entrepreneurs alike, raising the state budgets for some helpful programs that benefit the citizens. Keeping my fingers crossed!!