Owner and operator of Left Coast Farms Josh Wolf inspects his medical marijuana crop.
Recreational marijuana...like it or not here it comes. With the passing of Measure 91, come July 15, Oregon residents will be able to possess, grow, and consume marijuana legally.
With these new freedoms an industry will emerge. There is money to be made on marijuana with economists estimating the recreational side of the industry well worth over $10 billion by 2018, people from all walks of life will be looking to cash in on the cash crop.
The legalization of the cannabis industry will also bring a new and expansive job market, ranging from growers to accountants. Jobs that can be occupied by average housewives and college graduates, people who don’t fit the typical stoner stereotype.
Established Oregon medical marijuana growers and dispensaries, undoubtedly have a leg up in the future of the industry within the state. Josh Wolfe is just one of many mid-willamette-valley medical growers looking for success on the recreational side of the business. But Wolfe, a self described “pot farmer,” isn’t your average grower.
The East Coast has a history and bloodline with moonshiners and the West Coast has a similar background with marijuana. For generations both subcultures have hid behind cliches and thrived off of the black market.
Wolf has a rich history in the West Coast cannabis business. His roots stem from the infamous Emerald Triangle in Northern California. His grandmother emigrated to California from Finland in 1902 and lived in the oldest house in present day Eureka. In the year 2000 at the age of 19, shortly after graduating from Amity High School, Wolf received a call from his Uncle Rick offering him a job working on his medical marijuana farm in the heart of the Emerald Triangle, located between the towns of Honeydew and Petrolia.
Jumping at the opportunity, Wolfe spent the next two and half years learning how to grow marijuana. Just like generations upon generations of moonshiners, growing marijuana is in Wolfe’s blood.
“I learned things that I didn’t learn in high school. I learned about the cycles and seasons of growing.”
In 2003 Wolfe returned to the Willamette Valley looking to put the skills he had learned in California to good use. Upon his return, Wolfe continued to grow medical marijuana in Oregon but knew that he wanted something more for himself and his family. So, he enrolled at Heald College and in 2005 and earned an associate's degree in Business Administration. Like any good apprentice he has combined the skills he learned growing marijuana in the Emerald Triangle with the business skills he was taught at Heald into a professional career that provides for his family.
Wolfe is now the owner, head grower, and operator of Left Coast Farms. Responsible for providing nine patients with medical marijuana, Left Coast Farms provides full-time employment for Wolfe, two other grow hands, and seasonal part-time employees for harvesting.
With over $100,000 already invested into his business, Wolfe would like to commercialize his farm into the recreational sector of the business by opening more grow operations and hiring additional employees.
“It takes an army to have a successful grow-op,” said Wolfe.
Josh Clark a grow hand and full-time employee of Left Coast Farms said his wife prefers him coming home smelling like marijuana as opposed to when he was a farm hand at a dairy.
Josh Clark a grow hand and full-time employee of Left Coast Farms said his wife prefers him coming home smelling like marijuana as opposed to when he was a farm hand at a dairy.
Wolfe is currently working with investors and plans to be the first person in line on Jan. 4, 2016 when the OLCC will begin accepting applications for “Marijuana Producers.” When it comes to the potential profit of the marijuana industry Wolfe sees the “sky as the limit,” but fears big business will take over.
Wolfe doesn't look to marijuana for huge profits or to get rich, but like most hard-working Americans he wants to provide for his wife and three children with the skills he has. His ultimate goal is to pay for his kids’ college education, and with the emerging recreational cannabis industry, Wolfe’s dream of success, like many other marijuana prospectors may just be in reach.
At a glance
What: Left Coast Farms medical marijuana farm going recreational.
Where: Mid-Willamette-Valley
Who: Josh Wolfe, owner operator, Josh Clark, grow hand, one additional full-time employ, and seasonal part-time employees.
When: With the passing of measure 91 "Marijuana Producers" will be able to apply for a license to grow recreational marijuana on Jan. 4, 2016.
At a glance
What: Left Coast Farms medical marijuana farm going recreational.
Where: Mid-Willamette-Valley
Who: Josh Wolfe, owner operator, Josh Clark, grow hand, one additional full-time employ, and seasonal part-time employees.
When: With the passing of measure 91 "Marijuana Producers" will be able to apply for a license to grow recreational marijuana on Jan. 4, 2016.
Josh Clark, a grow hand at Left Coast Farms, tends to the farms medical marijuana crop.
Just one of Left Coast Farms many budding cannabis flowers.
Josh Clark mixes organic nutrients getting ready to water the budding cannabis.
Left Coast Farms medical marijuana crop in bloom.
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