Construction worker Crystal Gibson of Newark plans to build a future and a fortune beyond her 9 to 5 job, so she came to learn how to start a marijuana business in a state moving toward adult legalization.
“A lot of times we think living in an urban area that it’s impossible or we’re incapable of making our dreams come true, or we just don’t even know what direction to start in order to get that financial security,” Gibson said.
The New Jersey Minority Alliance invited California Cannabis’ Virgil Grant to teach Gibson and others the ropes. Grant took his profits from street sales and launched a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the mid-90s in California. An industry profiteer, pioneer and prisoner, he became a federal target when one of his clients drove under the influence, killed a driver and paralyzed a law enforcer.