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"The plague is the black market of marijuana ..."
No. The plague is America's war on drugs that creates the perfect storm for cartels to operate in.
In this specific scenario, the problem is black market Marijuana. In a place where there is a handful of dispensaries, anyone over 21 can walk in and buy Marijuana, where the sheriffs don't give a damm about if you got pot. The core of this incident was "blackmarket" Marijuana. Probably also with the heightened tensions with a number of dealers getting pinched and lots of sheriff operations in the area.
Why are people still dying over pot if I can buy it legally?
It might not have been heading for California. Lots of states around where it's still illegal as hell. Which the black market was already setup to provide to so they still do it.
Too many cities ban legal retail, so they left the market in the hands of criminals.
Prohibition is still propping up the black market.
I can’t speak for California but in many states in the US medical and recreational weed is expensive.
There is still a black market for it because the black market is cheaper. For example in MA you can either buy it at a dispensary for $60 an 1/8th or go to the black market for half the price.
Not everyone who consumes weed wants to be registered or pay through the nose if they can find a dealer on the black market that is considerably cheaper and anonymous.
The black market will never go away unless they can make recreational access cheaper than what it costs to truck it into the US from Mexico. I don’t ever see that happening.
It's common for dispensaries to sell an 1/8th for ~$15-25, at least in northern California. Just checked a couple local places and see many options for half ounces around $40.
I doubt many people care about anonymity here either. It's all cash transactions, and you just get carded like buying booze - no real registration, except for like rewards points/loyalty programs lol
Plus, a new law just went into effect here that supposedly protects employees from being asked about/discriminated against for their cannabis use, granted there are exceptions for some construction jobs and jobs requiring federal clearances. (AB 2188, for anyone interested)
The legal market is saturated in California. I would guess most of the black market is exporting out of state where it can be sold for more. But I could definitely be wrong! I agree that it's unlikely to disappear until it's unprofitable.
I doubt many people care about anonymity here either.
I’d make a bet that there is plenty of people who care, enough to support a black market.
There are plenty of people that don’t have an ID or aren’t old enough to go to a dispensary.
Even in California, lots of illegal pot farms selling for cheaper than legal stores. Less taxes, less Q/C, less overhead etc. dont even need to pay over the border shipping.
I keep hearing how other states outside of CO are getting bent over on weed prices while I pay 60 for an ounce of decent stuff.
This is true. But keep in mind that when things started in CO prices were also really expensive.
Over time as more and more dispensaries open there will be more supply which will shift things to be cheaper. Hopefully.
Michigan is really cheap, too. I’ve heard that we get people coming from Illinois (also a legal state) because it’s cheaper here.
Consider the source, it's totally possible the cops are leaving out information or straight up lying to push their own agenda here
Cops hate legalization because they can’t sell the drugs they seize.
Also, if/when they want to harass someone all they need to do is say "sniff sniff I smell marijuana, so now I get to search through all your stuff without a warrant" and they hate losing that
Sounds like these dudes needed to smoke a bowl and chill.
I really don't get how anyone buys dark market weed just to save a dollar or two. Fucking with the quality like this is just disrespectful.
The difference is way more than a dollar or two depending on where in the US you’re referring to.
If you consume an ounce a month you’ll be saving thousands of dollars a year by purchasing off the black market. Seems like a no brainer.
Personally I’d rather spend the extra money for quality control and not having to deal with some dickhead fucking me around. But to each their own. Different priorities for different people.
Twenty years ago in High School, good weed was about $60/eighth in CA. $40 was for decent stuff.
With legalization, I can get decent stuff for $25 now — twenty years of inflation later. Anecdotal, sure, but it’s way cheaper for me now.
Somehow my friend in Texas is getting 3 grams of carts from a dealer for like $30, whereas in Rhode Island it's 50 bucks for half a gram. I'm very Puzzled by this.
Taxes.
That's an enormous difference. Way more than flower.
Look at the break down of the taxes. Like in Illinois the more concentrated the higher the taxes percentage.
The costs of regulations that dispensaries and growers have to deal with get passed on to the consumer as well.
I can get full grams legally for as little as $30 in WA. Either RI has some bonkers taxes or you're getting badly ripped off.
3 different dispensary companies, all the same or similar.
https://motherearthri.com/categories/vaporizers/
https://risecannabis.com/dispensary-menu/rhode-island/warwick-adult-use-rec-menu/
https://solarcannabisri.com/shop-adult-use?dtche%5Bcategory%5D=vaporizers
I can get 7g of THC-A edibles for ~$30 in texas