Willy @ The Real Estate Project

   In California and in some other states where growing and the usage of marijuana has become legalized has also caused a lot of illegal grow operations. Where I'm at in California there has become an explosion of both legal and illegal grow operations. Some operations will do their best to make it look like they are a legal operation and keep a low profile, while others will seek out distant remote locations to do business. This makes a problem for those of us who are interested in investing in land. We may drive out to a property and see a MJ grow operation and wonder if it is a legal or illegal operation. There's no signs that are going to be erected to let us know if we should keep our distance. Even legal grow operations are weary of strangers. When you are out there looking at land, proceed with caution and expect to have someone come out to where you may be or even stop you on the road that you are driving down and start asking questions of who you are and what you are up to. These people are more than likely going to be armed also. 
   What can you do to try to protect yourself from harm? Search Google Earth, stop by the Sheriffs or local police office and inquire about the area that you are going out to. Ask them if there have been any problems out there. Also let them know that you are planning on going out to a specific area and plan to be out there for a certain amount of time. Tell them that you plan to stop by afterwards to let them know that you are safe. Check with the County to see if they have an online database that you can look up to see what grow operations are legal and licensed in the area you plan on driving out to. That way if you see a grow operation off in the distance that you don't remember seeing in the online database, then you may want to steer clear of them. And because many of the grow operations are out in very rural remote locations, the road that you will be driving down will be a dirt road. As you drive down these roads you will be kicking up a dust cloud behind you. These grow operations will notice if someone is driving down the dirt road towards them. This is why I said to expect to have someone either come up on you or stop you on the road and start asking a bunch of questions. And if you start flying a drone, you can expect even more suspicion or even have someone take a shot at your drone to try to shoot it out of the sky.  
   Be safe out there when you venture out to go look at properties in rural areas. I've been to areas that 4 years ago would have maybe only had 3 or 4 people out in an area that now will have 20 grow sites.