I am writing a series of articles over at Seeking Alpha on the ins and outs of the Canadian marijuana market and the public companies which are working in this space. Article #2 is a worms eye view of the various sorts of users who make up that market including people who might grow their own.
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“The people who will grow their own pot are those who are already into gardening and have the time to learn to garden something new. A source from the production side of things (with 20 years experience) also pointed out to me that growing “good” pot isn’t so much gardening as it is near-chemistry. “Good pot” is grown near-exclusively indoors, and hydroponically.
This requires significant capital to set up even on a micro level- most stoners do not have that kind of money. That same source still purchases his personal use pot from dispensaries, albeit at deeply discounted rates. Of my four sources – the creative, the connoisseur, the self-medicater, and the production guy (who falls into the “creative” category as well), two of them might grow their own. One because they have an interest in gardening, they have interest in chemistry, and they have the time and capital to set up a grow in their house. The other one can syphon a set-up from his “job”, avoiding the capital expenditure, and already has the expertise. A connoisseur may find that even without bothering to learn, he wants more variety than four plants can offer. So, of the four “stoners” I spoke to – admittedly a small sample size – maybe two of them might grow pot, and of those two, one will still go buy pot at the store (I suspect both will although the creative/production guy is less picky).”
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You can read the whole thing here.