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Colorado, Washington Legalize Recreational Marijuana

Might be meaningful if it weren't still illegal under federal law.
 
It seems strange nobody is considering why that happened in California, of all places.

The Mexicans are NOT going to allow Obama to take away this source of income from their country.

Which Mexicans? The government of Mexico has indicated strong support for US efforts to decriminalize drugs. I'm sure the Mexican cartels won't like it, but I can live with that.

So far, Obama has been a huge disappointment on the war on drugs...but I think he'll find it rather difficult to continue waging war on a potted plant in Washington and Colorado without any cooperation from the state law enforcement agencies.
 
The smart money will still get their drugs off the street. If you ever want to have a professional job, you don't want to have your name on any store's ID list of recreational pot buyers.

You won't need an ID; this isn't like medical marijuana initiatives where you need a card showing you have a prescription. Colorado and Washington legalized pot for ANYONE over 21, making it no different than buying alcohol or tobacco. And stores don't keep an ID list for those things.
 
Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that while Congress is who declares schedule I drugs (of which marijuana is one) illegal, it is the executive branch that determines which drugs are on that schedule. So theoretically, Obama could remove marijuana from the schedule 1 list unilaterally? I have seen no evidence in his first term that he would do that, but could he do it theoretically?
A quick google makes it appear that you're correct that the executive branch sets the scheduling of drugs.
 
I hope they have better luck than California. We passed medical marijuana years ago, but that didn't stop the feds from swooping in, closing down legitimately licensed medical MJ stores, confiscating the stock and fining the owners out of existance. :(

Not gonna happen in Colorado. Coloradans won't take it.
 
Should happen nation wide, but it won't. The federal government is deeply invested in WOD, it's big money for them. The only way I see to make this work is to have enough states do it all at once and spread the DEA forces so thin it becomes a financial burden to pursue it. Take heart, the current administration will almost certainly tank the monetary system and will lack the resources to impose it's will on the states.

Considering the "Santa Claus" effect the democrats used in this last election the Republicans could sweep the next one if they base their platform on legal pot and free Cheetos for everyone. The crunchy ones. Because that is the level our electorate has fallen to.
 
If a Supreme Court can legalize abortion, it sure as hell is capable of legalizing drugs for recreational use. It's not IF they do this, but WHEN. Same with gay marriage, human sacrifices, or any other perverted activity.
Sweet!

When can we expect to be able to do human sacrifices in the open again?
The Old Ones are insatiable.
 
Sweet!

When can we expect to be able to do human sacrifices in the open again?
The Old Ones are insatiable.

We already have human sacrifice. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.2 million a year and is considered a sacrament by the left. What I'm waiting for is extension of the legal time frame out to about the 57th trimester. That would solve a lot of problems.
 
Finally, hopefully more states follow suit.
 
My wife and I plan on going to Colorado next year to go smoke weed for the first time. It's insane that it's illegal but I've never wanted to risk my job just to try it out.
 
Once the other states see how much money Colorado and Washington are going to make off this, they will want to follow suit. Like others before me have said, it's only a matter of time.

I think that is a false statement for Colorado anyway. First Colorado was making money off the medical use law that existed. They are now going to lose a good portion of that revenue. Those businesses that started under the medical use laws, were licensed and well regulated for the sole purpose of tax collection. Under the new law, those businesses will be gone in a few years if it takes that long.

First for the people that “really” use it for medical purposes it was an expense to them, now they can grow their own, and many will. To those that used the system of medical use to their advantage, they will in a huge majority begin to grow their own. The other part of the equation for those that own businesses for sale to those needing it for medical use. Now the price drops, and drops drastically, because there will be a lot of people that will feel they can supplement their incomes by selling a little here and there, people that think that won’t happen … are just kidding themselves. In Colorado pot is now going to be easily available to anyone that wants it, and the vast majority of these sales is going to be cash sales.

I predict that Colorado is going to “lose “ revenue from this new law, not gain it.
 
Now the price drops, and drops drastically, because there will be a lot of people that will feel they can supplement their incomes by selling a little here and there, people that think that won’t happen … are just kidding themselves. In Colorado pot is now going to be easily available to anyone that wants it, and the vast majority of these sales is going to be cash sales.
I predict that Colorado is going to “lose “ revenue from this new law, not gain it.
Why will it be any different than other produce?
I know a lot of people who grow their own tomatoes and basil. But most people don't. A few local farmers bust their asses and make a living growing them. But for the most part, you can't really make any money by growing and selling tomatoes or fresh herbs w/o investing a sizable chunk of change and an even larger chunk of effort.
Why will pot be different than various other produce?
 
Why will it be any different than other produce?
I know a lot of people who grow their own tomatoes and basil. But most people don't. A few local farmers bust their asses and make a living growing them. But for the most part, you can't really make any money by growing and selling tomatoes or fresh herbs w/o investing a sizable chunk of change and an even larger chunk of effort.
Why will pot be different than various other produce?

First because of price, I’m not sure what a ounce goes for where you are but it starts at about 200 an ounce . A single plant can yield between 5 and 10 oz making the return in savings or sales of $1,400 per plant …
The comparisons you give, should even be funny to you. What farmer do you know that gets that sort of return per plant ?? The cost to start growing is a bag or two of miracle grow potting soil, and a couple of large pots. Hardly the cost of setting up a garden or a farm ..

I’m not saying that big time farming is going to start up … but I am saying is that nearly every smoker is going to grow his own, why .. Because it’s a simple thing to do, and the savings vrs buying it amounts to a good deal of money. Now if you happen to be able to sell a few bags to your buddies .. Well that just offsets your growing costs.

If you are one of the cancer patients, you spend a ton of money on your doctor and care bills as it is, if you can grow you own, that is a reduced expense …. But doesn’t mean you still aren’t paying for all the other treatments. So that savings will probably be helpful to you.

In any case .. I’m standing by what I said .. Colorado is going to end up losing revenue by passing this law, and many (not all) of these businesses that grow and sell medical M is going to shut down.

Where they screwed up with this law, is in allowing anyone to grow it, if they just had passed recreational usage, then they would have seen an increase of revenue, but they didn't do that.
 
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It seems strange nobody is considering why that happened in California, of all places.

The Mexicans are NOT going to allow Obama to take away this source of income from their country.

What? What did Pres Obama have to do with this? How are the Mexicans going to tell him to do anything? Do they have a nuke we don't know about? Nude pics of he and Hillary together? Or was this some Hannity drivel?
 
Why will it be any different than other produce?
I know a lot of people who grow their own tomatoes and basil. But most people don't. A few local farmers bust their asses and make a living growing them. But for the most part, you can't really make any money by growing and selling tomatoes or fresh herbs w/o investing a sizable chunk of change and an even larger chunk of effort.
Why will pot be different than various other produce?

It's still illegal in 48 states. Even though Washington and Colorado technically restrict the distribution to their own states, I think it's going to be inevitable that it will easily leak across their state borders. They'll become the suppliers for the rest of the country where it's illegal (at least until more states legalize it). So I don't think it's quite on par with tomatoes...at least not yet. ;)

Definitely a positive step IMO. This will be a body blow to the Mexican drug cartels (which still get a majority of their revenue from marijuana rather than cocaine) and various street gangs in the US.
 
I am happy to say that I did my part in the passage of the law in Colorado.

However, I don't plan to start getting high again. I gave up drugs and alcohol 30 years ago.
 
First because of price, I’m not sure what a ounce goes for where you are but it starts at about 200 an ounce . A single plant can yield between 5 and 10 oz making the return in savings or sales of $1,400 per plant … The comparisons you give, should even be funny to you. What farmer do you know that gets that sort of return per plant ??
But w/o the govt interfering as much in the market I don't think that the prices will remain as high. PRices are kept artificially high because of the risks involved. If someone could grow their own risk free, would they still pay $200/oz?
I think that if pot were legal, the price would plummet. I certainly don't think that the current prices in a market which the govt heavily interferes with will be any indication of what teh prices would be if the govt merely taxed pot instead of incarcerating the growers, sellers and buyers.

why would the price of pot, if it were legal be any higher than the price of basil.

The cost to start growing is a bag or two of miracle grow potting soil, and a couple of large pots. Hardly the cost of setting up a garden or a farm ..
If there's such a low barrier to entry, the market will see a glut of growers. Whoever is growing the best most efficiently will be the one who sets the price which other growers must undercut to do business.
Supply goes up, prices goes down. The easier it is to get started, the more the supply increases. The more the supply increases the less money you can demand for the product.

I’m not saying that big time farming is going to start up … but I am saying is that nearly every smoker is going to grow his own, why .. Because it’s a simple thing to do, and the savings vrs buying it amounts to a good deal of money.
If nearly every smoker grows his own, then then not only is the supply going up, but the demand is going down. That also tells us that the price would go below the current price.
If it's so easy to grow, and there'll be so many people growing it, why won't it be priced like basil?

Now if you happen to be able to sell a few bags to your buddies .. Well that just offsets your growing costs.
Maybe. But again, you won't be getting anything like the price you were getting when pot was illegal for the reasons I mentioned above.
It'd be like trying to sell one of your friends some zucchini you grew in your garden.
 
It's still illegal in 48 states. Even though Washington and Colorado technically restrict the distribution to their own states, I think it's going to be inevitable that it will easily leak across their state borders. They'll become the suppliers for the rest of the country where it's illegal (at least until more states legalize it). So I don't think it's quite on par with tomatoes...at least not yet. ;)
I was thinking in a more general sense of pot being legal.
 
Why will it be any different than other produce?
I know a lot of people who grow their own tomatoes and basil. But most people don't. A few local farmers bust their asses and make a living growing them. But for the most part, you can't really make any money by growing and selling tomatoes or fresh herbs w/o investing a sizable chunk of change and an even larger chunk of effort.
Why will pot be different than various other produce?

Its a little more difficult than most produce.

Sexing, trimming upper leaves so lower get light. Drying and curing properly is an art in itself.

Barring taxation, prices will come down dramatically, but it will still be more expe sive than vegetables.

Fine weed is like fine wine, with commensurate valuation. And some medical strains don't get you high to.speak of. Pain management strains fall into this category. So theres some value added for specificity for certain conditions.
 
But w/o the govt interfering as much in the market I don't think that the prices will remain as high. PRices are kept artificially high because of the risks involved. If someone could grow their own risk free, would they still pay $200/oz?
I think that if pot were legal, the price would plummet. I certainly don't think that the current prices in a market which the govt heavily interferes with will be any indication of what teh prices would be if the govt merely taxed pot instead of incarcerating the growers, sellers and buyers.

why would the price of pot, if it were legal be any higher than the price of basil.

If there's such a low barrier to entry, the market will see a glut of growers. Whoever is growing the best most efficiently will be the one who sets the price which other growers must undercut to do business.
Supply goes up, prices goes down. The easier it is to get started, the more the supply increases. The more the supply increases the less money you can demand for the product.

If nearly every smoker grows his own, then then not only is the supply going up, but the demand is going down. That also tells us that the price would go below the current price.
If it's so easy to grow, and there'll be so many people growing it, why won't it be priced like basil?

Maybe. But again, you won't be getting anything like the price you were getting when pot was illegal for the reasons I mentioned above.
It'd be like trying to sell one of your friends some zucchini you grew in your garden.

I agree with what you are saying now, but my post was about the revenue that you claimed Colorado would see, and I said in my opinion it would go down, you with your post are saying the exact same thing .

But you are bring up another problem, With the price plummeting in Colorado, how long is it going to be before some (not all) will decide that hey .. You know if we just drive across the state line, we can get double or triple the price? Now you are looking at sending people to jail for interstate trafficking in drugs and spending even longer period of time in jail for a very small quantity of pot.

Again let me make it clear, I don’t disagree with the law, I’m just pointing out some of the problems that is going to arise from it. In my opinion the law was thrown together without much forethought .
Allowing people to grow for their own use is not a good thing until it becomes a federal law.
 
I wonder what this will mean for college applications in Colorado and Washington.
 
Didn't the Obama Regime sue Arizona for going against Federal law?
 
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