609. What Does It Take to Run a Cannabis Farm?

Chris Weld worked for years in emergency rooms, then ditched that career and bought an old farm in Massachusetts. He set up a distillery and started making prize-winning spirits. When cannabis was legalized, he jumped into that too — and the first few years were lucrative. But now? It turns out that growing, processing, and selling weed is more complicated than it looks. He gave us the grand tour. (Part three of a four-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Chris Bennett, operations manager at Berkshire Mountain Distillers.
  • Luca Boldrini, head of cultivation at The Pass.
  • Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai.
  • Chris Weld, founder and owner of Berkshire Mountain Distillers.

• RESOURCES:
  • "As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms," by Megan Twohey, Danielle Ivory, and Carson Kessler (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Evaluation of Dispensaries’ Cannabis Flowers for Accuracy of Labeling of Cannabinoids Content," by Mona M. Geweda, Chandrani G. Majumdar, Mahmoud A. ElSohly, et al. (Journal of Cannabis Research, 2024).
  • "The Complicated, Risky — but Potentially Lucrative — Business of Selling Cannabis," by James R. Hagerty (The Wall Street Journal, 2023).
  • "Marijuana Content Labels Can’t Be Trusted," by Shira Schoenberg (CommonWealth Beacon, 2022).
  • "Growing Cannabis Indoors Produces a Lot of Greenhouse Gases — Just How Much Depends on Where It’s Grown," by Jason Quinn and Hailey Summers (The Conversation, 2021).
  • "Blood and Urinary Metal Levels Among Exclusive Marijuana Users in NHANES (2005-2018)," by Katlyn E. McGraw, Anne E, Nigra, Tiffany R. Sanchez, et al. (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2018).
  • "The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production," by Evan Mills (Energy Policy, 2012).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Cannabis Is Booming, So Why Isn’t Anyone Getting Rich?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "Is America Switching From Booze to Weed?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).