In California, marijuana is still recreationally illegal, but in accordance to laws set in place by prop 215 and senate bill 420, you can legally cultivate and/or purchase marijuana to help with any ailments a doctor says you may use the plant for. Once you have a doctors recommendation, about $60 the first time you get one and $30 to renew (on average), you can grow pot, sell pot, or whatever you need to do. Now, you can do all that with a rec, but if you want to be extra careful, you can purchase a card from the California Department of Public Health for $50 that officially makes you a member of California's Medical Marijuana Group. Also, because with a rec you are entitled to grow a set number of plants at a time, you can also purchase a 99 plant card for $100, but technically, you don't need this card either, it just helps with law enforcement if they do come knocking and you're growing more than the 30 or so plants they typically see. As far as starting a collective goes, you open a dispensary much like you would any other non profit organization. If the paperwork is too advanced for you, you can retain a lawyer (back to this later) or you can hire someone with experience to fill and file your paperwork for you. The latter will run you anywhere from free if you know somebody to $800 if you don't. Once you've filed your paperwork you need to acquire a sellers permit because marijuana IS taxed and you need to abide by your cities coding laws. For example, a lot of cities require dispensaries be a certain amount of yards away from public offices and buildings like schools, libraries, anywhere kids might be. Outside of that you have to follow the same rules you'd follow if you ran any other business. You just need your spot set up and some product and depending on how you plan on getting your product you may need to do some networking if you don't already know growers who can supply the amount you need to run your collective. Also, costs will depend on how "collective" you get, if you're starting up with another person, the less you personally have to invest. What you need to have a decent dispensary is laid out pretty well by thedispensaryexperts.com. This is pretty accurate, except in California there is no $4000 state licensed permit, each city has its own ordinances. A lot of cities have stopped giving out permits, because there's something like 1,000 dispensaries in cities like LA alone, and because of people breaking coding laws. But when permits are issued, they're not particularly expensive, if there is even a fee at all. Also, if you live in a city with strict/expensive dispensary laws, you can start a delivery service and work out of your vehicle and avoid the main costs associated with an established dispensary, eg: renting an office and a parking lot and security. Other costs they didn't specify is that of the actual product (I'll go back to that) and telephone service/wifi or some internet connection if you want to make your life easier, as you'll be verifying patient recommendations all day and you'll want to stay up to date as far as your records are concerned, all of which is better done with an Internet connection.If you want to make a more comfortable/lounging type space where patients can chill and test products you'll want to invest in furniture, televisions, sound system, things like that, but plenty of shops run like pharmacies (come and go) so you don't have to invest in any of that if you don't want to. Also, they don't mention the advertising. There are A LOT of dispensaries, many of which have now been running for nearly a decade. So competition is real. If you're just now starting, you need to make your dispensary stand out. Provide an amazing atmosphere and a great product. Business cards, new patient deals, advertising in local newspapers etc is almost necessary and could cost you up to $1000 if you go all out. Back to product, growing your own is your best bet, especially since you can make clones which is a whole 'nother cash cow. There are people on Craigslist who are basically marijuana consultants and will help you start a grow if you don't know what you're doing. One guy offers his services for around $1000, and promises you a pretty legit set up. He offers a 6 light setup and 6 lights can grow you about 6 pounds every 2 months, or more or less, depending on the type of pot you grow, and at around 2400 a pound, again more or less pending on what you're growing, breaking that down to the masses is going to give you a good deal of profit, especially if you sell clones and even edibles/oils/waxes. If you're a collective with a growing partner too, and other growers with more product, you are golden. You will make your money back and more if you play your cards right. And back to the lawyers, part of playing it right is getting a lawyer. There are lawyers who specialize in medical marijuana laws and having one on retainer is a good idea, especially if your non profit is making an amount of money that could be seen as excessive. Having a lawyer is something you'll want to do when you can afford it as that's what's going to cost you. The guy I know paid his lawyer 10,000 a year and would pay more if he actually needed to go to court. In the long run though, that's not bad at all considering what's at stake. But in total, all costs listed, even if you did pay a lawyer 10 racks a year, you're looking at 20,000 to run a legit dispensary with a lawyer, 10 without one.