burnin1
Well-Known Member
From Cleveland.com
Marijuana conference teaches how to grow, sell pot if Ohioans legalize it
As Ohioans mull legalizing marijuana, a cannabis conference held in Columbus this weekend will teach attendees about the legal pot industry. (
By Jackie Borchardt
updated August 25, 2015 at 12:03 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohioans could legalize marijuana this November, but wannabe "potrepreneurs" can get a head start planning their future businesses at a conference this weekend in Columbus.
The "cannabis academy" planned for this Saturday and Sunday aims to give a primer about the industry to newcomers, whether they want to start a business in Ohio or elsewhere, said Tiffany Bowden, co-founder of conference sponsor ComfyTree Enterprises.
Participants can learn how start a business in an industry that runs contrary to federal law, invest in new "cannabusinesses" and grow their own marijuana plants without racking up high energy bills.
Cannabis-related companies will sell goods and take employment applications at a free "cannabazaar." Attendees must be 21 or older.
Bowden said she prefers to visit states that haven't yet legalized marijuana or are in the process of reforming marijuana laws because conference attendees learn enough to help shape state policy.
Ohio's event will focus on the proposed legislation and current local and state cannabis laws. Representatives from groups proposing different legalization plans, including ResponsibleOhio, will share them with participants.
Bowden said ComfyTree doesn't take a position on legislation such as ResponsibleOhio's Issue 3, which would legalize marijuana sales and use in Ohio but limit commercial growing to 10 pre-selected sites owned by investors paying for the issue campaign. But Bowden said the amendment would offer plenty of new business opportunities, from being a "budtender" in a retail store to managing a dispensary.
The idea of a traveling cannabis conference came to Bowden while working on her doctorate degree in communications research at the University of Illinois. She wanted to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Illinois, but was getting quoted as much as $18,000 for consulting services.
"It was obviously not a market that was for the little guy," Bowden said. "Very quickly we saw the industry was rolling out in a way that was not going to be inclusive and open to everyone."
So Bowden pulled together speakers from several areas of the industry to share their expertise and founded ComfyTree -- "comfy" for getting people comfortable and "tree" for cannabis. ComfyTree has held conferences in Kentucky and Washington, D.C., and plans to stop in Detroit later this year.
Bowden said the conference admission fee is a small price to pay to learn whether the industry is a right fit.
"We tell it how it is," Bowden said. "We take it out of the glitz and glamour of the news media where you only hear about the success stories."
The two-day conference will be held at the DoubleTree Columbus Worthington. Tickets range in price from $89.99 for a half day to $299 for all workshops, grow school and field trip to Apeks Supercritical, an Ohio business that sells machines used to extract cannabis oil. Tickets are available at hellocomfytree.com.
There's no charge for the cannabazaar, but participants are asked sign up in advance on ComfyTree's website.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/08/marijuana_conference_teaches_h.html
Marijuana conference teaches how to grow, sell pot if Ohioans legalize it
As Ohioans mull legalizing marijuana, a cannabis conference held in Columbus this weekend will teach attendees about the legal pot industry. (
By Jackie Borchardtupdated August 25, 2015 at 12:03 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohioans could legalize marijuana this November, but wannabe "potrepreneurs" can get a head start planning their future businesses at a conference this weekend in Columbus.
The "cannabis academy" planned for this Saturday and Sunday aims to give a primer about the industry to newcomers, whether they want to start a business in Ohio or elsewhere, said Tiffany Bowden, co-founder of conference sponsor ComfyTree Enterprises.
Participants can learn how start a business in an industry that runs contrary to federal law, invest in new "cannabusinesses" and grow their own marijuana plants without racking up high energy bills.
Cannabis-related companies will sell goods and take employment applications at a free "cannabazaar." Attendees must be 21 or older.
Bowden said she prefers to visit states that haven't yet legalized marijuana or are in the process of reforming marijuana laws because conference attendees learn enough to help shape state policy.
Ohio's event will focus on the proposed legislation and current local and state cannabis laws. Representatives from groups proposing different legalization plans, including ResponsibleOhio, will share them with participants.
Bowden said ComfyTree doesn't take a position on legislation such as ResponsibleOhio's Issue 3, which would legalize marijuana sales and use in Ohio but limit commercial growing to 10 pre-selected sites owned by investors paying for the issue campaign. But Bowden said the amendment would offer plenty of new business opportunities, from being a "budtender" in a retail store to managing a dispensary.
The idea of a traveling cannabis conference came to Bowden while working on her doctorate degree in communications research at the University of Illinois. She wanted to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Illinois, but was getting quoted as much as $18,000 for consulting services.
"It was obviously not a market that was for the little guy," Bowden said. "Very quickly we saw the industry was rolling out in a way that was not going to be inclusive and open to everyone."
So Bowden pulled together speakers from several areas of the industry to share their expertise and founded ComfyTree -- "comfy" for getting people comfortable and "tree" for cannabis. ComfyTree has held conferences in Kentucky and Washington, D.C., and plans to stop in Detroit later this year.
Bowden said the conference admission fee is a small price to pay to learn whether the industry is a right fit.
"We tell it how it is," Bowden said. "We take it out of the glitz and glamour of the news media where you only hear about the success stories."
The two-day conference will be held at the DoubleTree Columbus Worthington. Tickets range in price from $89.99 for a half day to $299 for all workshops, grow school and field trip to Apeks Supercritical, an Ohio business that sells machines used to extract cannabis oil. Tickets are available at hellocomfytree.com.
There's no charge for the cannabazaar, but participants are asked sign up in advance on ComfyTree's website.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/08/marijuana_conference_teaches_h.html
