(Newser)
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Jeff Wilcox is set to become pot's first great entrepreneur. The California businessman has convinced the Oakland city council to allow the construction of factory-style marijuana farms, aimed at producing decent-quality bud at below-average prices. For now, Wilcox is filling a niche in the local medical marijuana market. But he sees cut-rate pot—specifically, the 58 pounds a day that could be pumped out of his planned 7-acre site—as a prime mover after the drug is fully legalized. Reuters pays a visit.
Wilcox likens his efforts to those of Trader Joe's, the grocery chain that's found success selling "Two Buck Chuck"—a reasonable bottle of wine for $2. "The new Two Buck Chuck will be $40 an ounce pot," Wilcox said. His plan calls for a 3% grower's tax, which he estimates would send the California government over $2 million in revenue yearly. For a look at Proposition 19, the California ballot initiative that would legalize weed, click here.
