Adrian absolutely. Lemonis my name is marcus lemonis. On my show, the profit, i invest my own money in all kinds of companies. Everythings going to change. Everything. And help turn their fortunes around. Marijuana isnt my thing. Ive never even considered investing. Is the business easy for you . Andrea hell no. Theres nothing easy about this industry at all. Lemonis but the market here could reach 6 billion, and thats impossible to ignore. Adam we have this opportunity to create onceinalifetime, multigenerational wealth. Lemonis the risks are huge. Youre in a room filled with what the federal government considers illegal. Jeanette thats what makes it more exciting. Lemonis but so are the returns. Whats the end goal for you . Dan selling my company for 120 million. Lemonis im here to take you on a journey and show you where the profit is in pot. Im here in Desert Hot Springs, california. Now, many of you have probably never even heard of it. Its the forgotten son, the neighbor, to palm springs, where the golf courses are big, the night life is big, but not around here. What youll see are plenty of signs that say sorry, were closed. Back in 2001, the town went bankrupt, and came close again in 2014. Tired of money troubles, people here took a chance. Desert hot springs became the first place in Southern California to allow industrialscale indoor pot farming. A oncedying town is dying no more thanks to recreational pot and people like adrian sedland. Adrian, nice to meet you adrian likewise. Lemonis is this your business . Adrian yes, it is. Welcome to canndescent. Lemonis i mean, youre literally in the middle of the desert. Adrian theres no better place to grow cannabis. Lemonis ive never smoked pot. In fact, id never even seen pot. Adrian come on in. Lemonis i walked into canndescent and suddenly found myself surrounded by it. Very fragrant. Adrian yes. Lemonis how much inventory is in this room right now . Adrian we want to get to 65 pounds of dried flower. Lemonis per harvest . Adrian per harvest, and we harvest the room every 10 days. Lemonis 65 pounds. Adrian of finished flower. Lemonis uhhuh. So, 195,000. Adrian you got it. So, were pulling down a room every 10 days. It runs at 600,000 a month. Its not a bad business. Lemonis its not a bad business . Its a great business. Armed with a harvard mba, adrian is part of the new money behind californias exploding marijuana industry, which is still considered criminal under federal law. Are you the first drug dealer to ever graduate from harvard . Adrian no. Theres plenty of them in biotech. Go talk to the guys in amgen and pfizer. Theyre dealing stuff percocet, all that highly addictive xanax. That stuff will mess up your life. This wont. Lemonis in Desert Hot Springs, they seem to agree and have issued permits for more than 3 million square feet of construction to more than 30 growers. Good for business, but i wondered if the towns reputation would be hurt. Are you originally from this town . Scott born and raised. Lemonis scott matas is the mayor of Desert Hot Springs, a selfdescribed conservative. Scott i was a no on marijuana use in our community in 2007. Lemonis what happened . Scott the economy went bad. We needed to find another revenue. Lemonis when they put it to a vote, more than 70 of the residents here said yes to growing recreational pot. Mayor matas doesnt smoke, but the side effects of weed are saving his town. Job creation . Scott job creation its taxation. Lemonis think about this. It costs 15 million a year to run Desert Hot Springs. The town could eventually collect 50 million a year from pot taxes alone. Goodbye, budget crisis. Hello, cash flow. And what has happened to the prices of the land out there . Scott well, let me give you an example. The city bought a piece of property in 1980 for 5,000, one acre. We just went into contract to sell that for 378,000. Adrian we have two buildings. We call them brad and chad. Lemonis okay. Adrian theyre named after the guys who built them in the 120degree heat. Lemonis if you grow pot outdoors, you get two harvests a year. But indoors, a hightech climatecontrolled environment can triple that. Adrian says canndescent will soon be selling about 75 million worth of weed annually. Photographer thats gorgeous. Nice, nice. Your smiles great. Go for it. Lemonis with a slick advertising campaign, hes pitching his pot as a luxury brand. Woman 2 with us, you and the flower will always come first. We are canndescent. Adrian call us the courvoisier of cannabis, or mayors of cannabis. Were going after that highend adult use. Lemonis well, thats just packaging. Look. Packaging is one thing, but price is another. Adrian charges hundreds more per pound than the market rate. To me, thats a very risky strategy. You said to me you can get 3,000 a pound. Adrian correct. Lemonis how do you actually differentiate your product to get an extra 1,000 . Is it the packaging . Adrian packaging is one piece. The quality of our weed, the quality of our cannabis. Lemonis what is quality of our weed . Youve got to give me more than just quality of our weed. Adrian okay. Smell the nose. Youd recognize that our nose doesnt have any chemical burn. Youd recognize that the cure on our product is perfect, that when you break it, it has a perfect snap, which means its going to be a perfect smoke. Lemonis is there Quality Control . Adrian theres huge Quality Control. Lemonis does that mean that you throw a lot away . Adrian whats that . Lemonis you throw a lot away . Adrian absolutely. Lemonis and hes dropped the usual stoner labels you see in dispensaries. Canndescent comes in just five varieties, named for the feelings or moods theyre supposed to create. Adrian weve moved to a brand architecture where its just calm, cruise, create, connect, and charge. Its making it accessible. Its giving people analogies in their life. Your purchase becomes a reflection of who you are. When cannabis starts doing that, its not about being sexy. Its about being relatable. And thats where cannabis is going. Lemonis i give adrian a lot of credit for simplifying the approach to marketing the product from a naming standpoint. I think the name is interesting. I thought the packaging was fantastic. And to simplify things like calm, create, charge those are words that, i guess, yoga enthusiasts can relate to. It has a whole foodsesque packaging to it. The future seems promising in Desert Hot Springs, but dont forget the feds could still shut it all down. If the Current Administration decides to change its perspective and enforce the laws that they say this is illegal, what happens to the town . Scott if we were to allow them to build all that out there and then the federal government comes in and says, you cant do this, this would kill a small city. Lemonis adrian and his investors, well, they dont seem worried. Hes raised nearly 15 million in just 18 months. Adrian we pay our taxes. Were good corporate citizens. We conform to california law. Lemonis yeah. And youre employing people. Adrian and guess what. Im going to be employing 280 people within 18 months. Lemonis it surprised me, the level of sophistication that is being put in here, the amount of money thats being invested, and the steps in the process. Im a process guy. But im not fooled by sexy packaging and sexy marketing. And maybe not to him, but to most people, marijuana may be a commodity for now. And so, price will matter. Margin will matter. Whole foods, you know youre getting a superior product. Is the product really superior here . I dont know. Coming up, a house call. Four wheels, two guys, and one huge order of pot. And you could eat this whole bag . Megan yeah, i could eat that whole bag. Lemonis and not even be fazed . Megan not even be fazed. Lemonis but first, dont try this at home. I mean, if somebody drank this, theyd be. Cindy oh, unhunh. Lemonis unhunh. Cindy you dont even want to take a finger. Guys guys safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. Puts cash back in your wallet. Earn 5 cash back on everything you buy at walmart. Com. Mom paper towels . Including things for the science fair. Whats in your wallet . If theres gonna be a sticker on it has to mean something. That you got into college. Or crossed the finish line. Eventually. What . That you went someplace worth going. Or maybe. You have opinions. But if its on there, it has to mean something. So we make sure this means something. That weve done everything to make your shopping, testdriving and carbuying experience the way it should be. Carmax. For bathroom odors that linger try febreze small spaces. Just press firmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. For 45 days. Tvwhere weve got the best to odeals on refrigerators, microwaves, gas ranges and grills. And if youre looking for. Grilled Cheese sizzles timer chimes swithout even on yoleaving your house. Just keep your phone and switch to xfinity mobile. You can get it by ordering a free sim card online. Once you activate, youll only have to pay for the data you need starting at just 15 a month. There are no term contracts, no activation fees, and no credit check on the first two lines. Get a 50 prepaid card when you switch. 5g is now included with all new data options. Switch and save hundreds. Xfinity mobile. Lemonis my trip to the california desert was eyeopening, and it helped me get my head around just how big the pot industry was becoming. But not everyone is ready for the big time. And thats what brought me here to a quiet neighborhood in orange county, not a marijuana plant in sight. [ knock on door ] leani hi lemonis hi. Leani im leani. Lemonis im marcus. Leani nice to meet you. Cindy hi, marcus. Lemonis nice to meet you. Cindy im cindy. Lemonis im excited to see what you guys are working on. Cindy we are so happy to have you here. Were very excited. Leani cindy pinzon and leani posad are best friends. They think theyve cooked up the next big thing in edible pot with their company, treat yourself. Cindy we make healthy edibles that happen to have cannabis in them. Lemonis vegan, glutenfree tarts very california. Okay. So, can i open this . Cindy yeah definitely. Lemonis okay. All right. So, its literally a little pop tart. Cindy yeah. Hi, there. Would you like to try a strawberry rose . Theyre vegan and glutenfree. Lemonis hoping to attract firsttime users, theyve kept their tarts low in thc and cbd, the two main ingredients in pot. Cindy for the minis, its 10 milligrams cbd, 10 milligrams of thc. Lemonis it doesnt get any more startup than this. They do everything packaging, deliveries, and all the baking out of this very tiny kitchen. Cindy so, weve already premeasured. Lemonis its time to channel my inner chef. The cops arent going to show up, are they . Leani hopefully not. Lemonis okay, good. Cindy i cant guarantee it, but. Leani yeah. Lemonis oh, thats good. They start with a mixture of coconut oil and cannabis extract. A little goes a long way, seriously. You didnt put a lot in there, cause its so clear. Leani mmhmm. Cindy its very concentrated. Lemonis i mean, if somebody drank this, theyd be. Cindy oh, unhunh. Lemonis unhunh. Cindy you dont even want to take a finger. Lemonis next, we add maple syrup, chia seeds, almond extract. Smells good. Cindy mmhmm. Lemonis . And flour. Speed it up . Leani do you do a lot of baking . Lemonis i do. A little secret nobody knows. But my baking doesnt have any of, uh. Cindy right. Leani not yet, anyway. Lemonis each tart costs about 1. 27 to make. They wholesale them for twice that amount. Not too bad. Cindy the medicated version has a onetoone ratio of cbd to thc. Lemonis cindy used to be an actress. Leani was a police dispatcher. Avoiding pot was part of her job. Leani it was a very educated decision for me to actually try it for the first time. I had, for many years, had a very strong stance against it. I was one of those people who would roll my eyes when people would say cannabis is good for you. That was my reaction. Lemonis right, yeah. Sure it is. Now, its a labor of love. And i mean labor. Cindy and then we head over and we start rolling. Lemonis it takes them an hour to make just 30 tarts. And at that rate, theres no way for them to compete in californias booming edibles market. And thats not the only obstacle. I love the vegan, glutenfree, soyfree, refinedsugarfree. I love this idea. I love the name. I love the logo. So you have me on this side of the package. Cindy yes. Lemonis but on the other side, i see a problem. Great for menstrual cramps, relaxation and inflammation. Cindy yes. Lemonis why did you choose to alienate men from the product . Cindy we just wanted to make something that was femalefriendly. Lemonis femalefriendly, or totally femaledirected . Cindy femalefriendly. Lemonis by the way, every product in the world should be femalefriendly since more than half of the people that buy things are females. Leani yes. Lemonis so, lets start with that. But i feel like with some of the vernacular, is almost like saying if you are a man, put it down. Cindy mmhmm. Lemonis i love the enthusiasm that the ladies have in trying to craft something where they think theres a hole in the market. Theres clearly a void. I worry about small entrepreneurs like this in california who think this green rush is going to solve all of their problems. If theyre wrong and they miscalculate, whats the backup plan . Woman 3 is it glutenfree . Cindy mmhmm. Woman 3 theyre all glutenfree . Lemonis they have their work cut out for them. Edibles and concentrates make up a third of the market, and there are hundreds of products on the shelves. Competition is fierce. So to see just what the ladies are up against, i headed to one of the largest makers of marijuana edibles in the country, kiva confections. Theyre headquartered in oakland. Think willy wonka for weed. Chocolate everywhere, bars, blueberries, espresso beans. How long have you been in business . Kristi since 2010. Lemonis Kristi Knoblich runs this edibles empire. Kristi thats our tangerine darkchocolate bar. Currently, we offer products to about 960 dispensaries throughout the state. Lemonis 85 employees crank out over 1,000 pounds of potinfused chocolate a day. It would take cindy and leani eight months to make that many tarts. And all that takes a ton of this. I want to be like santa claus. Kristi yeah, these are about 40 pounds. Lemonis i may not get pot, but i cant ignore the numbers. Kivas already a multimilliondollar company. And next year, once recreational sales begin, theyre expecting their revenue to double. Cindy we have cherry almond, which is the other flavor that has a higher. Lemonis . A giant compared to treat yourself. You know, its clear that you guys have a great idea. You are passionate about what you do. Its still small, right . Cindy yes. Leani mmhmm. Lemonis are you too late to the party . Cindy we dont think so. There are bigger companies, but theyre not creating the products were creating. Lemonis what is your ultimate goal in this whole process . Cindy oh, man. Like, big dreams . Like, skys the limit . Lemonis big dreams, the biggest you can come up with. Cindy we want to be a global brand. We want to be everywhere. Lemonis i think these bakers could make some serious dough. Lets do the math. Nearly 8 Million People voted to legalize recreational pot in california. Lets suppose a third of them buy edibles. Thats a potential market of more than 2. 6 million customers. If just 1 of them bought one treat yourself tart every week for a year. You would do 3,461,000 in business. Leani yep. Thats exciting. Lemonis yall better get. Leani yeah cindy awesome, right . Thats good, right . Lemonis their first step . Start selling. Todays a big day. Cindy and leani are pitching their product to one of l. A. s top dispensaries. And im going to drop in. What could go wrong . Josh these are going to be a little bit of a struggle. Lemonis plenty. Thats coming up. But first kid in a candy store . Not quite, but i was impressed. Do i call that a pot store or Marijuana Store . Adam you can call it whatever you want. I call it the future. Lemonis wow, this place is cool and geico loves helping riders get to where theyre going, so to help even more, geico is giving new and current customers a fifteen percent credit on their motorcycle policies with the geico giveback. And because were committed for the long haul, the credit lasts your full policy term. The geico giveback. Helping riders focus on the road ahead. Five blades and a pivotingglide flexball the geico giveback. Designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke, while washing away dirt and oil. So youre ready for the day with a clean shave and a clean face. Lemonis in california, there may be no easier place to buy weed than los angeles. With more than 1,000 pot dispensaries, the city of angels has a devilish side. I came here because after seeing how marijuana is grown and turned into edible treats, i wanted to know more about how its bought and sold. Ive never been in a pot store, ever. And im honestly a little nervous. Man 2 why . Lemonis i dont know if i want anybody to see me going in. Look, i dont judge people for using marijuana. Thats a personal preference. But at the end of this journey, what i want to decide is do i want my money in here, and more importantly, is it a good investment for other people . Is there really an Investment Opportunity here, or is it all a big risk . I chose a dispensary on santa monica boulevard, a place called medmen. How are you . Adam good morning. Lemonis im marcus. Adam adam. Lemonis nice to meet you. Adam welcome to medmen West Hollywood. Lemonis adam bierman is medmens cofounder and c. E. O. Do i call that a pot store or Marijuana Store . Adam you can call it whatever you want. I call it the future. Lemonis wow, this place is cool it was definitely not what i expected. Medmen was open, airy, and modern nothing seedy about it. Adam theres no bars on the windows. Theres no guy with a gun at the front. Youre walking in, were open to the community. Lemonis i like the design. There were ipads everywhere loaded with information right next to gizmos that let you see and smell before you buy. Adam this allows the consumer to actually see it through a magnifying glass, to smell it through a little door that slides open there. Lemonis this door right here . Adam yeah. So, you would actually stick your nose in there. Lemonis i caught a whiff of madmens strategy more style, less stigma. Was it just window dressing, or would it entice customers to actually pay more . Have you ever been in a Cannabis Store before . Crystal i have, but not one as nice as this. Lemonis what do you think of it . Crystal its amazin