Caregiver available to support legitimate cardholder

First off, apologies this post is so long. I recently got myself an entire indoor grow setup. Originally it was intended for my friend with cancer. He was going to get a RI medical card. I was planning to support him in his medical endeavors but he decided not to go that route. It's a bit upsetting but given his circumstances I can't be upset. At any rate, now I have all this equipmunk and nobody to help out. Trying to decide to return it all or find other patients to help out. It will take about 4 months to be able to help anyone out once I start growing from seed--but there is no alternative as far as I'm concerned.

My questions are:

1.) Is it possible to receive donations for providing medicine to a patient--just to recoup costs such as growing equipment ($3500), and operating costs such as electricity, organic nutrients, etc? Of course my time would be free

2.) Can I face problems looking for patients this way? (assuming I keep everything above board, of course)? I'm not looking to make money--just help out. Plus, based on all the chatter on these forums, it looks fun to grow! I could always sell the grow setup on CL later, I suppose.

Your $0.02?

Not sure about the legalities here. May want to read the law on the RI Website. However, If you decide to sell. Send me an email. I'm in RI as well and may be interested.

Its highly doubtfull you will find any patients via this or any other web site,your best bet is to look local,if your product is good it isnt hard to get patients,my wife & myself are both registered caregivers in Michigan & we have to turn away dozens of prospective patients every year.

If this is your 1st time growing dont start from seed,there are too many ways to get screwed up going from seed,you must watch closely as plants grow & quickly cull all males,then since the strain is new to you you'll need to watch for hermraphrodite plants through out the entire grow,one missed male or female turned hermaphrodite & you will have enough pollen in the building to put you out of business for months,starting from clones is much safer & 2 months faster than seed.

When making a deal with a new patient DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT when quoting prices,the cost of supplys,power & equipment should be taken into consideration,as well as your time,right now it seems like fun but once you get the grow machine up & running its some work for your ass,i spend about 25 to 30 hours a week on my garden & thats with paid labor helping trim at harvest ,it adds up fast & before ya know it the grow duties interfere with personal life,dont rush to hand out prices till you do a detailed cost study that includes your time spent,you can allways discount the meds to account for any extra money charged but its next to impossible to charge a patient more based on expenses so its better to cover your ass from the start.

I look at power & water costs,building costs,equipment costs,fertilizers & other supplys & my time when figuring out exactly how much i need to break even,i look at it as if every grow is going to be my 1st & last grow & charge accordingly.

Thanks Panhead. Thats good advice. I'll have to get to know some local folks to figure out the next step.

Chem, it would be a shame for you to have to turn back now, but I'm sure you could find someone in need. There are a lot of sick people out there in need of help. I'd recommend speaking to the folks at RIPAC, I believe they are starting a small network of care givers willing to help out patients. Come to a meeting or send an email to them. I'm sure they'd be happy to hear from you. Good luck to you and your friend.