Law Biden Pardons All Federal Offenses For Marijuana Possession

[skysolo]

LOL says California's top cop who had many people go to jail over weed.

 

[brackis1]

Unlike alcohol and tobacco, it will always be much more difficult to police legal (taxed) THC products due to the ability of anyone to grow and the vast forms of consumption. Flower alone is almost impossible to police given the fragmentation of distribution and the inability to stamp the end product. Alcohol has a few large distributors and a three tier system that makes them the biggest tax collectors on earth.

Sure the big chain Apple type stores likely won’t risk their license but there are plenty of smaller licensed shops I know for a fact buy flower through parties that dodge taxes. Additionally the lack of barriers to enter will make illegal weed and the cartels thrive.

lol bro weed is getting so cheap in areas that are legal; the winners are those with tight margins and economies of scale.
I can buy an ounce of a great CBD:THC hybrids for under $100 after tax.
That isn't exactly fueling Pablo Escobar.
Almost every single gray to black market weed person I've known in the past decade (literally a hundred diff people prolly) has either given up or is making way less now in those areas.
Where it still thrives are locales with exclusive permits or tons of security/build-out requirements.
Once all the banking can be done digitally the cost to protect and license stores will plummet.

 

[BIKES!]

lol bro weed is getting so cheap in areas that are legal; the winners are those with tight margins and economies of scale.
I can buy an ounce of a great CBD:THC hybrids for under $100 after tax.
That isn't exactly fueling Pablo Escobar.

Illegal weed has gone way down. I used to go to MedMen but that 30% tax is fucking insane, an 8th is $65 so not sure where you are getting an ounce for $100. It's moot as I have so many buddies that grow I don't need to buy shit anymore...

Competition has definitely brought the margins down so it will be interesting to see who survives as saturation continues.

 

[brackis1]

Illegal weed has gone way down. I used to go to MedMen but that 30% tax is fucking insane, an 8th is $65 so not sure where you are getting an ounce for $100. It's moot as I have so many buddies that grow I don't need to buy shit anymore...

Competition has definitely brought the margins down so it will be interesting to see who survives as saturation continues.

MedMen are legal criminals anyways with sketchy leadership and financials.
I am in CO atm the other states with plentiful licensing like WA and Oregon are all brimming with cheap weed. $15 8ths etc...
Oregon produces something like a 5 year surplus.

All the gray area people I know/knew were making lots shipping packages to states where idiotic prohibition still exists. Guess what happens to their business of flipping 5-packs for $7500 (1500/lb) dries up because the receiving state has a mix of local growers and shops?

 

[dirtypablo]

MedMen are legal criminals anyways with sketchy leadership and financials.
I am in CO atm the other states with plentiful licensing like WA and Oregon are all brimming with cheap weed. $15 8ths etc...
Oregon produces something like a 5 year surplus.

All the gray area people I know/knew were making lots shipping packages to states where idiotic prohibition still exists.

I'm in Massachusetts, and we've had recreational shops here just under 4 years. The first dispensaries would only have a couple strains on hand at a time, only strains from one brand, and an 1/8 was $60. Now, most shops have 20+ strains at a time from different growers, and you can get an 1/8 for as low as $30. Give it another 5 years and I'm sure prices will come down even further. No way black market dealers can compete.

My old guy still spams me with his list of what he's got every once in a while, it's usually a couple strains for not much cheaper than the store. No thanks.

 

[Slick_36]

I'm in Massachusetts, and we've had recreational shops here just under 4 years. The first dispensaries would only have a couple strains on hand at a time, only strains from one brand, and an 1/8 was $60. Now, most shops have 20+ strains at a time from different growers, and you can get an 1/8 for as low as $30. Give it another 5 years and I'm sure prices will come down even further. No way black market dealers can compete.

My old guy still spams me with his list of what he's got every once in a while, it's usually a couple strains for not much cheaper than the store. No thanks.

People will pay what little difference there is just for the convenience of it. If you're buying from someone outside of a dispensary they probably grow their own, have extra, want to offset some of the expense & are probably already friends with you.

 

[helltoupee]

You're not really disagreeing, though. I'm just saying it still exists, and that legalization doesn't all of sudden eliminate that element, like it's a magic wand. That was my point. Weed was never garnering the biggest profits for such types even when it was illegal(comparatively to other drugs), and was more of a side business among the big sellers like coke and pills. It's still very much profitable for them, though, and the fact that possession under 30 grams is legal, means the street dealers can sell it without much to worry about having decent amounts on their person. Money is still money, and it's hard to price out the black market on such an easy to produce drug.

Ok, I get what you are saying.

I agree with you there is still a (black) market out there for marijuana, however it is not what it used to be.

Of course, legalizing weed is never going to completely eliminate the black market - it would be foolish to expect as much given nothing is perfect. It did, however, put a big dent in the black market and have reduced it to almost nothing.

I don't know about your comment that weed is easy to produce. Maybe 20 years ago the kind of weed sold (on the street) could be homegrown - but when compared to the high potency strains they sell today - that's not as easy as just planting a pot plant, putting it in the sun, and allowing it to grow. There are a lot of variables that go in to high potency strains, not just the genetics. From expensive liquid fertilizers, to CO2, to temperature and light controls, to PH levels of water. All of those things and others are kept at their optimum levels in order to produce high potency marijuana plants.

It's the same with alcohol. When they made it legal, and even to this very day, bootleg alcohol is still available (moonshine) if you know where to look for it. But the commercial market has basically taken the legs out of the black market. The Kennedy's wouldn't be mega rich right now if they were trying to sell alcohol when it was being legally produced and sold. You also don't see the mafia involved in the bootleg alcohol industry anymore, despite the fact that when alcohol was prohibited, alcohol was a huge moneymaker for them. Sure, money is money, but that's only one side of the equation. Also important is what it takes (time and resources) to produce that money. Certainly most people are going to choose the route that is more lucrative and carries less risk (smuggling).

 

[helltoupee]

Unlike alcohol and tobacco, it will always be much more difficult to police legal (taxed) THC products due to the ability of anyone to grow and the vast forms of consumption. Flower alone is almost impossible to police given the fragmentation of distribution and the inability to stamp the end product. Alcohol has a few large distributors and a three tier system that makes them the biggest tax collectors on earth.

Sure the big chain Apple type stores likely won’t risk their license but there are plenty of smaller licensed shops I know for a fact buy flower through parties that dodge taxes. Additionally the lack of barriers to enter will make illegal weed and the cartels thrive.

At least here in CA, what you are saying is just not true.

Not just anyone can grow what people expect their marijuana to be in this day and age. Sure, maybe in the 70's and 80's, people smoked low potency marijuana and you could get that by growing it in your backyard. It is a weed after all and grows just about anywhere.

However, today's weed is much different. Today's weed requires optimizing every single variable that effects the plant in a controlled environment and it's not as easy as people thing. If you're referring to dirt weed, yes I agree with you. But I haven't actually seen dirt weed around in probably 15 years or more. Nobody want's that shit anymore - they want crystallized no seed buds with anywhere from 20% THC content up to 40%. That's not easy.

 

[BIKES!]

At least here in CA, what you are saying is just not true.

Not just anyone can grow what people expect their marijuana to be in this day and age. Sure, maybe in the 70's and 80's, people smoked low potency marijuana and you could get that by growing it in your backyard. It is a weed after all and grows just about anywhere.

However, today's weed is much different. Today's weed requires optimizing every single variable that effects the plant in a controlled environment and it's not as easy as people thing. If you're referring to dirt weed, yes I agree with you. But I haven't actually seen dirt weed around in probably 15 years or more. Nobody want's that shit anymore - they want crystallized no seed buds with anywhere from 20% THC content up to 40%. That's not easy.

I'm not some flower savant but my buddies grow some insane shit and they just do it for the fuck of it. Sure their are the weed snobs that resemble the old craft beer triple IPA Mosaic, Citra blend with coconut butt-hole yeast but I'm blown away with anyone can grow these days.

I would also say that just like alcohol most people just want to get high and any decent chronic will do. Just like the guys that by generic store brand Vodka and Whiskey rather than Crown Royal and Titos.

 

[ShadowRun]

 

[evergreenrider]

MedMen are legal criminals anyways with sketchy leadership and financials.
I am in CO atm the other states with plentiful licensing like WA and Oregon are all brimming with cheap weed. $15 8ths etc...
Oregon produces something like a 5 year surplus.

All the gray area people I know/knew were making lots shipping packages to states where idiotic prohibition still exists. Guess what happens to their business of flipping 5-packs for $7500 (1500/lb) dries up because the receiving state has a mix of local growers and shops?

Theres also weed thats more expensive then it ever was black market. Can't ignore that.

 

[panamaican]

Ok, I get what you are saying.

I agree with you there is still a (black) market out there for marijuana, however it is not what it used to be.

Of course, legalizing weed is never going to completely eliminate the black market - it would be foolish to expect as much given nothing is perfect. It did, however, put a big dent in the black market and have reduced it to almost nothing.

I don't know about your comment that weed is easy to produce. Maybe 20 years ago the kind of weed sold (on the street) could be homegrown - but when compared to the high potency strains they sell today - that's not as easy as just planting a pot plant, putting it in the sun, and allowing it to grow. There are a lot of variables that go in to high potency strains, not just the genetics. From expensive liquid fertilizers, to CO2, to temperature and light controls, to PH levels of water. All of those things and others are kept at their optimum levels in order to produce high potency marijuana plants.

It's the same with alcohol. When they made it legal, and even to this very day, bootleg alcohol is still available (moonshine) if you know where to look for it. But the commercial market has basically taken the legs out of the black market. The Kennedy's wouldn't be mega rich right now if they were trying to sell alcohol when it was being legally produced and sold. You also don't see the mafia involved in the bootleg alcohol industry anymore, despite the fact that when alcohol was prohibited, alcohol was a huge moneymaker for them. Sure, money is money, but that's only one side of the equation. Also important is what it takes (time and resources) to produce that money. Certainly most people are going to choose the route that is more lucrative and carries less risk (smuggling).

Cigarettes are another example. Still a black market for them too.

But in most of these cases, the black market is about avoiding cross state tax differences.

 

[Lubaolong]

That's not how legalized Marijuana works.

When you go to a dispensary to buy marijuana, the owner of the store is not buying dirt weed that some gang member grew in his backyard.

Do you realize how difficult it is to get a license to sell/grow/transport marijuana in a legalized state? Every step of the way, from seed to sale, is controlled. You can't just open a store and sell weed that you obtain from the street. You are forced to go through a licensed distributor, who himself is subject to the same controls and cannot buy weed from some ragtag guy with a couple hydroponic buckets in his garage. He has to buy from a licensed grower, who also has to jump through insane hoops just to operate.

Most of these people are not going to be stupid enough to risk the literal hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes just to get licensed and be able to operate a business by buying weed under the table from gang members.

Trust me, there are A LOT of things to complain about when it comes to legalized marijuana, but this (gangs involved in the business) is not one of them. For one, given it's weight to profit ratio and how difficult it is to smuggle (smell, bulky), most gangs go for far more lucrative drugs like heroin, cocaine, pills, or meth. That shit grown on some field in Mexico, when compared to high THC hydroponic strains like in CA, leaves almost no market for Mexican grown weed that might be coming over in bulk.

75%+ of dispensaries in California are illegal, unlicensed operations. When you make the penalty only a $500 fine in an effort to reduce arrests in communities of color, it doesn’t do a lot to dissuade the activity.

 

[brackis1]

I'm in Massachusetts, and we've had recreational shops here just under 4 years. The first dispensaries would only have a couple strains on hand at a time, only strains from one brand, and an 1/8 was $60. Now, most shops have 20+ strains at a time from different growers, and you can get an 1/8 for as low as $30. Give it another 5 years and I'm sure prices will come down even further. No way black market dealers can compete.

My old guy still spams me with his list of what he's got every once in a while, it's usually a couple strains for not much cheaper than the store. No thanks.

Theres also weed thats more expensive then it ever was black market. Can't ignore that.

lol as someone who used to pay $65 an 8th for absolute junk when it was illegal, gonna disagree

 

[helltoupee]

lol as someone who used to pay $65 an 8th for absolute junk when it was illegal, gonna disagree

$65 for an 1/8th of dirt weed and sticks and seeds? Damn, you must live in some dusty old town or something.

I remember paying about $30 for a quarter of just run of the mill Mexican grown weed. This is back when "Skunk" was the universal term for good weed, and it didn't come around very often.

Quality of buds and potency is definitely 1000x better than it used to be as a black market drug, that's for sure. Shit, I haven't seen an actual seed in my weed for almost 20 years. I remember getting buds that were like 75% seed in high school sometimes when things were dry.

 

[brackis1]

$65 for an 1/8th of dirt weed and sticks and seeds? Damn, you must live in some dusty old town or something.

I remember paying about $30 for a quarter of just run of the mill Mexican grown weed. This is back when "Skunk" was the universal term for good weed, and it didn't come around very often.

Quality of buds and potency is definitely 1000x better than it used to be as a black market drug, that's for sure. Shit, I haven't seen an actual seed in my weed for almost 20 years. I remember getting buds that were like 75% seed in high school sometimes when things were dry.

Well yes, this was in like 2003 in the far northeast. Even today in places like London or Australia its absurdly expensive. I knew guys from the UK who would fly back with only like 10-15 vape carts in their luggage and would have people offering $200 each for them; when the retail price in America is like $30-40 lol

I wonder how by evil joe-biden inflation has gone for other products since then?

 

[brackis1]

75%+ of dispensaries in California are illegal, unlicensed operations. When you make the penalty only a $500 fine in an effort to reduce arrests in communities of color, it doesn’t do a lot to dissuade the activity.

Ah forgot what a shitty racist you are sometimes! Great contribution to the thread.

 

[Lubaolong]

Ah forgot what a shitty racist you are sometimes! Great contribution to the thread.

What part of my post is racist?

 

[AWilder]

75%+ of dispensaries in California are illegal, unlicensed operations. When you make the penalty only a $500 fine in an effort to reduce arrests in communities of color, it doesn’t do a lot to dissuade the activity.

source?

 

[Lubaolong]

source?

You’ll have to Google. I’m working right now. Here is a quick story about the problem.

https://www.latimes.com/california/...eed-dispensaries-police-raids-crime?_amp=true

I read an article or saw a story on the news several months ago that said there were only like 800 legal dispensaries in the state out of a total of ~4000. It was a story about harmful pesticides being used and how no one knows if the store they’re going to is actually registered or if the weed they’re buying is actually safe.