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A look inside California's black market for weed shows a huge threat to legal sales

JacksinPA

JacksinPA

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A look inside California'''s black market for weed shows a huge threat to legal sales

A CNBC investigation of unlicensed dispensaries in Los Angeles found a variety of illegal activity that regulators say could endanger consumers.

LOS ANGELES — The parking lot outside a stark-looking dispensary on a busy street here is almost full on a weekday afternoon. Inside, jars of weed line the shelves behind a counter and colorful signs show prices. But if everything looks normal, it isn't.

The dispensary is part of a booming black market.
================================================
In some states the black market for Cannabis-related products can reach 70-80% of total sales.

'An underground economy is cutting into the profits of legal businesses.' For one reason, illegal dispensaries are open past the legal limit of 10 PM. And there is no limit on the amount an individual customer can purchase. And the weed can be consumed on the premises.
 
JacksinPA said:
A look inside California'''s black market for weed shows a huge threat to legal sales

A CNBC investigation of unlicensed dispensaries in Los Angeles found a variety of illegal activity that regulators say could endanger consumers.

LOS ANGELES — The parking lot outside a stark-looking dispensary on a busy street here is almost full on a weekday afternoon. Inside, jars of weed line the shelves behind a counter and colorful signs show prices. But if everything looks normal, it isn't.

The dispensary is part of a booming black market.
================================================
In some states the black market for Cannabis-related products can reach 70-80% of total sales.

'An underground economy is cutting into the profits of legal businesses.' For one reason, illegal dispensaries are open past the legal limit of 10 PM. And there is no limit on the amount an individual customer can purchase. And the weed can be consumed on the premises.
Click to expand...

The government loaded up legal sales with taxes. Black market activity is inevitable. And it doesn't sound like the state is even enforcing the laws, so it's just corrupt.
 
LowDown said:
The government loaded up legal sales with taxes. Black market activity is inevitable. And it doesn't sound like the state is even enforcing the laws, so it's just corrupt.
Click to expand...

Ypp, when you legalize something it then falls under all those various consumer protection, State licensing, state and federal taxes, and who knows what other requirements (like "medical cards"). This often ends up either increasing prices, or limiting access (see cigarettes and liquor), or both. That typically ends up in a black market.

It's only to be expected.
 
Captain Adverse said:
Ypp, when you legalize something it then falls under all those various consumer protection, State licensing, state and federal taxes, and who knows what other requirements (like "medical cards"). This often ends up either increasing prices, or limiting access (see cigarettes and liquor), or both. That typically ends up in a black market.

It's only to be expected.
Click to expand...

Easy way to end the black market is simply get rid of the stupid regulations.
 
Nap said:
Easy way to end the black market is simply get rid of the stupid regulations.
Click to expand...

Or just stick with sensible regs and don't inflate the prices into the stratosphere.
I like the idea of being able to purchase weed legally at an approved outlet instead of dorking around with this or that "dealer" or skulking around some fly by night operation.

Buying weed should be like stopping at a liquor store for some beer or wine.
We know how to do this stuff, we've BEEN doing it with booze for eons.

FFS we're not regulating weapons grade uranium so maybe it's time the Feds GIVE UP their stupid war and stopped acting AS IF it IS weapons grade uranium.
It's just weed.

I suspect a lot of the problems have to do with the stupid federal war on weed, which continues apace in the era of Trump.
 
Captain Adverse said:
and who knows what other requirements (like "medical cards").
Click to expand...

If it's been legalized then medical cards are meaningless. You need a medical card for places where it is still ILLEGAL EXCEPT FOR "medical use". The only time one needs a medical card in a state where it has been completely legalized is in the case of administering cannabis to minors who have demonstrated a valid medical need such as seizures.

In California, you only need to be 21 years old, PERIOD.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Or just stick with sensible regs and don't inflate the prices into the stratosphere.
I like the idea of being able to purchase weed legally at an approved outlet instead of dorking around with this or that "dealer" or skulking around some fly by night operation.

Buying weed should be like stopping at a liquor store for some beer or wine.
We know how to do this stuff, we've BEEN doing it with booze for eons.

FFS we're not regulating weapons grade uranium so maybe it's time the Feds GIVE UP their stupid war and stopped acting AS IF it IS weapons grade uranium.
It's just weed.

I suspect a lot of the problems have to do with the stupid federal war on weed, which continues apace in the era of Trump.
Click to expand...

Outside of a minimum age and sales tax there is no need for further regulation.
 
A recent purchase of "weapons grade uranium" (LOL)...there's so many dire warnings you'd think we had bought a gun.

Oh wait...tonbricks-077.gif

Cannabis1.jpg
 
Nap said:
Outside of a minimum age and sales tax there is no need for further regulation.
Click to expand...

I do appreciate quality control and cleanliness but yeah, outside of that, minimum age and sales tax, you're right.
Treat it like booze.
 
It's a California specialty to make bad, greedy laws, and then fail to enforce them.

They undermine their own tax revenue and manage to create an entirely new class of criminal, who don't even bother to hide their activity. That's just how dysfunctional the state has become.

I'm reasonably certain it was all about trying to hand the legal market over to existing medical sellers who were politically connected.

I will say that my experience is that the legal shops have better products and a somewhat more consistent inventory, but those taxes crank up the price considerably.
 
JacksinPA said:
A look inside California'''s black market for weed shows a huge threat to legal sales

A CNBC investigation of unlicensed dispensaries in Los Angeles found a variety of illegal activity that regulators say could endanger consumers.

LOS ANGELES — The parking lot outside a stark-looking dispensary on a busy street here is almost full on a weekday afternoon. Inside, jars of weed line the shelves behind a counter and colorful signs show prices. But if everything looks normal, it isn't.

The dispensary is part of a booming black market.
================================================
In some states the black market for Cannabis-related products can reach 70-80% of total sales.

'An underground economy is cutting into the profits of legal businesses.' For one reason, illegal dispensaries are open past the legal limit of 10 PM. And there is no limit on the amount an individual customer can purchase. And the weed can be consumed on the premises.
Click to expand...

Going by our experience in Canada, the legal business is trying to cut into the profits of the underground economy. Unsuccessfully. The pot distribution system established by the underground can't be improved on and the price point is far more flexible. Why would you go to a legal dispensary and pay $8 a gram when the guy you've dealt with for the last two years will deliver a quarter ounce for $40?
 
Nap said:
Outside of a minimum age and sales tax there is no need for further regulation.
Click to expand...

And in the marketplace even that level of regulation will be ignored. The most efficient distribution system doesn't care about age and doesn't pay taxes. Never has.
 
WillyPete said:
It's a California specialty to make bad, greedy laws, and then fail to enforce them.

They undermine their own tax revenue and manage to create an entirely new class of criminal, who don't even bother to hide their activity. That's just how dysfunctional the state has become.

I'm reasonably certain it was all about trying to hand the legal market over to existing medical sellers who were politically connected.

I will say that my experience is that the legal shops have better products and a somewhat more consistent inventory, but those taxes crank up the price considerably.
Click to expand...

It's also the draconian limitation on the number of legal dispensaries.
One hundred eighty-six pot shops cannot even begin to meet demand for a metro area of ten or eleven million, where at least 1.5 - 2 million are probably would be legal users.
There simply aren't enough legal dispensaries, it's as simple as that.

We shop at a legal dispensary but it's tough to get there at certain times, and the place is always PACKED to the rafters, and the prices are ridiculous.
But at least we know we're getting proper weed.
For the record, my wife was already a doctor certified (not a pot doctor, a real doctor) medical user for her MS prior to full legalization.
 
WillyPete said:
:)

Korova makes a 1000mg brownie that I bought a couple years back as my first professionally made edible.

It taught me it is possible to go too far!

I still have some of it in the freezer, and I'm genuinely scared to eat it.
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HAHAHAHAHA...did you ever read my first experience with a brownie?
I don't blame you for being a little "skeered".
 
Grand Mal said:
And in the marketplace even that level of regulation will be ignored. The most efficient distribution system doesn't care about age and doesn't pay taxes. Never has.
Click to expand...

I can only conclude that if you're both right, then maybe the government should have considered the consequences of nearly seventy years of off the chain prosecution and prohibition. They created the underground market and it became so adept at staying robust that it is like an antibiotic resistant infection now, nothing can stop it.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
I can only conclude that if you're both right, then maybe the government should have considered the consequences of nearly seventy years of off the chain prosecution and prohibition. They created the underground market and it became so adept at staying robust that it is like an antibiotic resistant infection now, nothing can stop it.
Click to expand...

That's what has happened. The underground market has become so efficient that it will be hard for a legal enterprise that has to pay rent and taxes to compete. Not to mention that underground producers don't have any hoops to jump through. Already legal dispensaries here are buying product through the back door from guys who have been growing pot for years.
It's too late to treat pot like booze in terms of legality. Regulation won't work. It's been a free, open market for too long.
 
Grand Mal said:
That's what has happened. The underground market has become so efficient that it will be hard for a legal enterprise that has to pay rent and taxes to compete. Not to mention that underground producers don't have any hoops to jump through. Already legal dispensaries here are buying product through the back door from guys who have been growing pot for years.
It's too late to treat pot like booze in terms of legality. Regulation won't work. It's been a free, open market for too long.
Click to expand...

---The ultimate "big government interference" in freedom, eh?
Well, one of 'em, that's for sure.

But I'd prefer to be reasonable and I accept SOME regulation. Quality and safety are important considerations.
That means REGULATING IT in a manner similar to booze.

The state has made allowances for people to grow their own.
That's like giving the go ahead to people who want to brew their own beer or make their own wine.
 
Nap said:
I do as well, we don't need the government for that though we have Yelp.
Click to expand...

Yelp isn't free of distortion and abuse any more than Craigslist or... damn near anything, to some extent.
I'm not sure I am ready to depend on something like Yelp.
 
Grand Mal said:
And in the marketplace even that level of regulation will be ignored. The most efficient distribution system doesn't care about age and doesn't pay taxes. Never has.
Click to expand...

True, but the smaller the market the less likely "entrepreneurs" will be see that as a lucrative industry. Limiting the regulations will keep the price low enough that there will not be much financial opportunity for some dealer on the street. The vast majority will be willing to pay a few more dollars to a reputable business rather than some stranger on the street.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Yelp isn't free of distortion and abuse any more than Craigslist or... damn near anything, to some extent.
I'm not sure I am ready to depend on something like Yelp.
Click to expand...

You have 2 eyes correct? Are you going to eat at a restaurant with cockroaches walking all over the floor?
 
LowDown said:
The government loaded up legal sales with taxes. Black market activity is inevitable. And it doesn't sound like the state is even enforcing the laws, so it's just corrupt.
Click to expand...

Plus the illegal vendors have a whole new group of customers to expose other illegal drugs too.
 
Nap said:
You have 2 eyes correct? Are you going to eat at a restaurant with cockroaches walking all over the floor?
Click to expand...

Restaurants like that get regulated by the Health Dept.
I don't mind some enforcement power.
It appears that you might have a problem with that.
 
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