For a lot of us it won't do any good if the feds don't decriminalize/legalize. Anyone who is a gov't employee and likely a gov't contractor has already been informed it's still off limits to us. Also, the feds can still act on it whether a state has decided to or not.
And on the other hand states such as CO just instituted massive taxation on weed. Guess they just wanted to give the black market a boost.
We'll see. The taxes aren't enough to be significantly different than street prices. Throw in the fact that you'll be getting a known product (there will be brands and the such) with known properties (as least in Washington all pot will be labeled with THC content, just like alcohol has proof) with the added bonus of it being legal (most people don't like breaking the law) I think there is a good chance the black market will dry up.
The taxes total 25%. The increased costs of illegal marijuana due to the need to evade law enforcement are much, much greater than that. If the prices of the legal stuff are anywhere near black market prices it will be because the legal stuff is some spectacularly good shit that isn't really comparable to what you'd buy at a similar price illegally.
It's off-limits to anyone with a job or seeking a job here, where it is legal medicinally. You piss dirty for a job with a card and you're fired or not hired. Unless you're lucky to find a business that doesn't drug test. Even the gas stations around here give random drug tests for their cashiers. It's pretty ridiculous. Being a caregiver here isn't a bad deal though, I can avoid drug tests and smoke on the job, plus it helps pay to go back to school for a new degree.
from the grower to the street, the price currently multiplies nearly 500% at minimum. A 10Kg harvest will sell for about $20 000. That's some top grade indoor. So, $2/gram. By the time it's broken into retail quantities, it'll be $10-15, (caveat emptor when you buy from a sketchy freak in a park-they usually sell 0.6 as a gram). Now the issues with government and business in the weed game are troubling. First off is that I've read the one federal grow op in Canada is a model of government inefficiency. Long story short, it costs them over $5 to produce a gram there... probably too many agriculturalists, and not enough gardeners and bonsai tenders, among other things...Being in Flin Flon, Manitoba can't help. Second is I'm really terrified of soem biotech types trying to get in on it. Weed has been improved through crossbreeding and T/E soil optimization not by adding fish genes and nictoids.
@Liet and @Ancalagon that is exactly what I am getting at. Since when has more government regulation / interference in the market ever resulted in lower prices and more efficient operation. As for $10 to $15 a gram? First of all I dont toke, but that breaks down to 28 grams per ounce. Is that right? Because your then looking at $280 for an ounce of weed?!?!? Now you wanna add a 25% tax on tip of that? Yeah what could go wrong?
I am among those people. Once I retire at 62 all bets are off! Never been a big drug user, but Willy Nelson seems pretty kick ass and he's old enough to be my dad!
First off, an ounce is A LOT of weed. Secondly, you're doing what the cops do when they make a drug bust. Breaking it down to the smallest quality sold, take the street price of those units, then multipling it back out. Pot doesn't work that way. It's like retail v wholesale. Buying your jerky at Costco instead of in line at Quik-e-Mart. The bigger the quantity you buy the more steeper the discount. Lastly, people can make their own booze today, that market is heavily taxed and regulated, but most people prefer the ease and security of buying legal booze where they can get the brand they know they like, in the proof they like, and not worry about going blind or getting arrested.
no... that's the "convenience store" pricing you'll get buying from a stranger in the street. I pay an average of $160-180/oz and flip three 1/4 bags for $60 a pop selling to people who I know. As it is, I'm alredy paying at least two other people in a supply chain. The grower and trimmer made about $2000/Kg which then became $550-600 1/4 lb. There's some weight lost to drying and further trimming here, so ball park it at $4000 for that Kg now. The guy with the $600 1/4lb is going to try and make an average of $200/oz by selling $60 1/4oz bags and a couple $100 1/2 ozs or $180 ozs. The guys buying the last two quantities are trying to make that same sell three, smoke one ratio and some coffee money. They're also the ones that get greedy and sell short dime bags to strangers in the park so as to break even. At this point your price per gram is $10+ after starting out at $2 or less. For a smoker like me, this doesn't matter. I can credit bulk with several suppliers. For the casual smoker or tourist, it's a burden. Oldfella-"Copperhead Road".... 'nuff said
