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California weed woes

swing_voter

swing_voter

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Sharyn Alfonsi: So, the backers of Prop 64 said three things, right? First they said, "We're gonna raise a half-billion dollars in tax revenue." Has that-- has that happened?

Tom Allman: (LAUGHS) No… no.

Sharyn Alfonsi: They said, "It's gonna eliminate the black market." Has that happened?

Tom Allman: The mar-- the black market has greatly increased.

Sharyn Alfonsi: Has increased.

Tom Allman: Absolutely.

Sharyn Alfonsi: And they said that, "This would now allow police officers like you to focus on other things."

Tom Allman: I'm looking forward to that day.

Right now his deputies are busy. There's so much illegal weed in areas that are so remote, they have to haul it away by helicopter.
Allman says he only has the manpower to get rid of about 10% of it.

Marijuana in California: How red tape and black market weed are buzzkills for California's legal weed industry - 60 Minutes - CBS News
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My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




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swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




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You forgot to Add swing that Calif will just piss the tax revenue away from it
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




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I predicted something like this when everyone was legalizing it. The government will **** up anything fun to make money and marijuana is not an exception.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




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Early legal market woes. It'll take some time to sort out. The ENTIRE weed market was illegal, so it has a very sophisticated sourcing/distribution system and a very large existing market. Legal weed growers and suppliers are up against an established corrupt industry.

It will take time. I buy my weed from a semi legal mail order operation saving about $40 an ounce over the cheapest of my long time dealers. With competitive pricing, a smorgasbord of varieties and products, better quality control, and terrific "overstock sales", I'm a believer. Gone are the days when you just had to accept or reject the pot your dealer had that day for his price, end of story.

And I for one am still like the kid in the candy store. I bet a lot of my fellow long time tokers (not in the biz) will eventually switch over, if they haven't already.



Of course about the only thing the illegal weed importers/growers/distributors/dealers can do is keep dropping their prices as the legal market advantages put more and more pressure on their illegal revenue stream. Weed will get a lot cheaper before its over. Of course just like the booze biz, bootleggers will have a large niche.
 
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swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.
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Property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes, there shouldn't be any tax on the weed itself.
 
And just how extensive is the black market for home brew booze - not stolen, but home brew?

Exactly.

There will be ongoing problems until it is legal federally and at least a very strong majority of states. There will always be a black market as long as there are places where it cannot be sold legally.

Know the best way to do it? The way MA did: legal pot shops, and if you follow a few easy-to-follow rules, an individual can grow 6 plants, making 12 for a household. If you use auto-flowering plants, which are generally harvestable 9-12 weeks after sprouting, you can grow far more than you'll ever use. If you ever need to buy anything, it'll be edibles unless you're into making those yourself as well.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




.
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What are you talking about? Old news from 2019?

California passes $1 billion in cannabis tax revenue two years after launching legal market

California has raised $1 billion in cannabis tax revenue since the industry kicked into gear in January 2018, according to figures recently released by the state.

The bulk of that $1.03 billion in tax money, after covering regulatory costs, has been spent on programs such as child care for low income families, cannabis research, public safety grants and cleaning up public lands harmed by illegal marijuana grows.

California passes $1 billion in cannabis tax revenue two years after launching legal market – Orange County Register
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Mr Person said:
And just how extensive is the black market for home brew booze - not stolen, but home brew?

Exactly.

There will be ongoing problems until it is legal federally and at least a very strong majority of states. There will always be a black market as long as there are places where it cannot be sold legally.

Know the best way to do it? The way MA did: legal pot shops, and if you follow a few easy-to-follow rules, an individual can grow 6 plants, making 12 for a household. If you use auto-flowering plants, which are generally harvestable 9-12 weeks after sprouting, you can grow far more than you'll ever use. If you ever need to buy anything, it'll be edibles unless you're into making those yourself as well.
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wow, we only get 4 plants per household. 12 per household is a serious crop. If you just know the basics what you're doing you can easily get a couple of pounds of bud out that (outside) of course.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.
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We don't need massive taxes and government fees for something to be legal.

If it was treated the same as alcohol, and there's no rational reason it shouldn't be, there would be no issues with a black market. When was the last time you had the urge to buy beer in an alleyway from a guy with a neck tattoo, just to save 6% on sales tax and 20 cents per gallon on the state alcohol tax?
 
Tlrmln said:
We don't need massive taxes and government fees for something to be legal.

If it was treated the same as alcohol, and there's no rational reason it shouldn't be, there would be no issues with a black market. When was the last time you had the urge to buy beer in an alleyway from a guy with a neck tattoo, just to save 6% on sales tax and 20 cents per gallon on the state alcohol tax?
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Yeah, this. Politicians just got so incredibly greedy. Really ****ed the golden goose.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




.
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It will take quite skme time to sort things out, meanwhile we have other countries that have been more effective because they treat drug use as a health crisis, not a criminal problem. We also need to address poverty if we want to make it so people dont have to work for the cartels to make ends meet. California isnt exactly the best place for affordable housing.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




.
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Thanks for your anecdote about your lone California friend.
Be sure and forward that to Sacramento!
 
swing_voter said:
Ehhhh, I provided a link to an article about the subject.
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Yeah I see it.
As much as I love 60 Minutes, I seriously doubt anyone at the show is a stoner.
Anyway, I know a lot of people who buy legal store weed, when they want something that their dealer doesn't have, and it's something they can't grow themselves, either.
You know, it's not really THAT expensive when you compare liquor and wine prices.
A bottle of Cold Duck or Beringer White Zinfandel, or Sutter Home white is cheap.
But have you priced fine California and French wines lately?

Sometimes people want gourmet and they pay for it.
The one thing you will not find at a legal weed store is PLAIN OLD BACKYARD WEED, it's all gourmet stuff.

By the way, you've also proved that you don't use weed, so why do you even care?
Oh I know, you like to bash California, right?
 
Sharyn Alfonsi: Give me a sense of kind of who the customers are who are walking in right now.

Emerald Pharms Cannabis Retail Store Manager: Our demographic is over 60. That is--

Sharyn Alfonsi: Really?
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LOL I'm not surprised. I've gone to dispensaries in Nevada and all the customers were seniors from Utah.

There's a lot of Seniors that want to buy pot but are uncomfortable buying off the black market. Looks like California has a NIMBY problem. What are they afraid of...that Grandma might get high and bring their property values down?
 
Jonsa said:
Early legal market woes. It'll take some time to sort out. The ENTIRE weed market was illegal, so it has a very sophisticated sourcing/distribution system and a very large existing market. Legal weed growers and suppliers are up against an established corrupt industry.

It will take time. I buy my weed from a semi legal mail order operation saving about $40 an ounce over the cheapest of my long time dealers. With competitive pricing, a smorgasbord of varieties and products, better quality control, and terrific "overstock sales", I'm a believer. Gone are the days when you just had to accept or reject the pot your dealer had that day for his price, end of story.

And I for one am still like the kid in the candy store. I bet a lot of my fellow long time tokers (not in the biz) will eventually switch over, if they haven't already.



Of course about the only thing the illegal weed importers/growers/distributors/dealers can do is keep dropping their prices as the legal market advantages put more and more pressure on their illegal revenue stream. Weed will get a lot cheaper before its over. Of course just like the booze biz, bootleggers will have a large niche.
Click to expand...

I don't know any semi legal on line stores, sadly, but I was very happy to make the switch from dealers to legal stores. It's check for pesticides, mold, and you have a much wider selection. Prices here in Colorado have dropped by about half since it was first legalized (at least for the medical).
 
I think the same as Jonsa, it's going to be a series of hiccups and growing pains as things settle and sort themselves out.
Weed's legal and it's going to remain legal, and eventually people will not need to go to some upscale weed shop to get it.
A good many upscale shops will continue to thrive but at some point I expect it won't be a big deal for a twenty one year old to just pick up some legal weed at the supermarket or convenience store. The difference is, that's going to be the regular plain old weed you normally see from street dealers. (Think "Budweiser" or "Miller Genuine Draft")

The REALLY good stuff is still going to come from the high end shops.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




.
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Which is why the solution should be decriminalization, not legalization.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.




.
Click to expand...

THey were very upfront about taxation when they were campaigning for it. I like how much of the tax $ goes to schools and other things.

I'm not a big user, I like the stores and the very helpful and knowledgeable staff. And the increased likelihood of consistency and safety in the product. And the variety!

I dont like bargain basement wine or liquor, why would I penny pinch on pot?


This is the barely coherent and grammatically inept speech of a man who desperately wants to be able to claim that he "cured coronavirus."

That's it, in a nutshell. When we do get a handle on this crisis, he wants to be able to pull out footage and declare "I called it! I said use this! I said try this! I told them to do this, it was my idea!" He's just doing it with lots of stupid stuff because he doesnt want to miss an opportunity. He's afraid 'the big one' will be mentioned and he wont get credit for it.

It's all about declaring himself the savior of the cv crisis and we'll hear all about it, esp in his campaign. (Which is basically each of his press briefings these days) --- Lursa
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swing_voter said:
Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad?
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Yes, because government ruins everything.

From the article:

Casey O'Neill: So when you factor in consulting fees – you know, I just did a back of the napkin calculation that over the last three, four years, I'm well over $50,000 into it.

Sharyn Alfonsi: $50,000--

Casey O'Neill: Yes.

Sharyn Alfonsi: --for what, permits?

Casey O'Neill: For-- for permits, for consulting-- $2,500 a year for the water board discharge permit. It's $750 a year for the pond permit. It's $1,350 application fee to the county, plus another $675 when they actually give you the permit, annually.

Sharyn Alfonsi: For a farm this size-

Casey O'Neill: For a tiny-- for the-- the-- the smallest farm that there is. And-- and that's one of the problems, is that--

Sharyn Alfonsi: So what does that do to your profits?

Casey O'Neill: The - what profits?

Sharyn Alfonsi: You are not making any money right now?

Casey O'Neill: No.

Sharyn Alfonsi: Really--

Casey O'Neill: Absolutely not.

So where's the money being made in California?

It turns out, in the very place legalization was supposed to destroy: the black market, which often operates out of store fronts like this in strip malls around the state.

Those unlicensed shops don't have to pay for state and local permits and can sell marijuana much cheaper because they don't charge customers marijuana taxes. Which can reach as high as 45 percent. So it's cheaper and easier to buy pot on the black market, which is three times larger than the legal one.
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Yet another government failure to add to the mile-long list of government failures.

Marijuana is one of the safest drugs known to man. It does not need to regulated or taxed, and growers do not need to be licensed, nor should they be forced to buy permits.
 
swing_voter said:
My California friend told me, only idiots buy legal weed. The taxes and other government fees make it so expensive compared to black market weed.

Did you think legalizing weed would turn out this bad? I didn't.
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I'm not sure why it should be a surprise. The folks who were willing to risk jail to get high before will probably still risk jail to be high more cheaply.
 
danielpalos said:
There are no limits for commercial weed.
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i don't know about california, but in Canada commercial growers need licenses that state the number of plants a commercial grower can grow. Anecdotally I hear that in Ontario they have started regular inspections.
 
Demon said:
I don't know any semi legal on line stores, sadly, but I was very happy to make the switch from dealers to legal stores. It's check for pesticides, mold, and you have a much wider selection. Prices here in Colorado have dropped by about half since it was first legalized (at least for the medical).
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Mines in BC with three day delivery (pre covid now 7). As i mentioned in an earlier post that legal sources actually have excellent quality control to go along with a really superb ranges of strains of differing strengths to suit every user. I personally like the higher thc concentration strains and I am delighted to have my pick of them.

dream come true for this ol' hippie.
 
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