MJ in Colorado seems to be leading to safer roads

[MongGrel]

Couldn't you just admit you didn't have an actual answer?

It is an answer, sorry ya don't like it.

 

[OutHouse]

Here johnnn boy, just for you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-flourishing-segregated-black-market-for-pot/

 

[Jhhnn]

I was with you up until this. The black market isn't going anywhere. That's a fantasy.

At some price point or another, the risk/reward situation becomes unattractive for black market providers. It's just not worth it.

The whole black market scenario becomes unattractive for consumers, as well. Why put up with flakes & fakes when you can pay acceptable prices in a nice retail environment with regular hours, knowledgeable staff, wide selection, honest weight, guaranteed purity & potency right on the label?

Put it on your visa card, sir? Of course. Would you like that gift wrapped?

Comparing that to any black market deal I ever did is comparing apples to aardvarks. Yeh, sure, very small growers will always pass some along to close friends, one way or another, but that realm has also always existed. It's a tiny corner of the whole picture.

Another thing we'll see is branding- consistent brand name products. Think Budweiser & Marlboro or even Glenlivet & Dom Perignon. The black market sure as Hell won't provide that.

 

[Jhhnn]

Here johnnn boy, just for you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-flourishing-segregated-black-market-for-pot/

Which is no different than it's ever been.

From your article-

This black market boom, the state argues, is a temporary situation. As more legal recreational dispensaries and growers enter the market, the market will do what it does with greater competition: adjust. Prices will fall. The illegal market will shrink accordingly.

And if none of that ever comes true, so what? The whole point was to end the marijuana war insofar as that's possible, provide consumers with a totally legal supply chain & the right to enjoy cannabis in a responsible fashion. The State gets whatever they get from taxes. Jorge & Junior take their chances independent of that, always have.

 

[Jhhnn]

Observation and experience. You can call it anecdotal if that meets your agenda. I know a lot of illegal growers in Larimer county and a few in Denver who've been here and growing 10 to 15 or more years, and they're all thriving. Business has never been better and the heat has never been lower.

I've heard conflicting stories on price trends, though. A couple have said that the high retail prices due to the crazy taxes have boosted street prices. A couple of others have told me that there's so much weed on the streets that price are depressed. One friend with a good connection in Kansas City has taken to moving everything he can grow through KC and Omaha.

I can't argue that exporting to other markets is an attractive operation for those so inclined. It always will be, so long as weed is illegal at the point of retail sale & there's some cover at the growing end. That's the same world wide, from Swaziland to Morocco, Lebanon, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Mexico & other places as well.

OTOH, it's no more attractive in CO than growing under utterly lax MMJ statutes in CA, for example, where it's been a way of life for nearly 2 decades.

 

[shira]

Umm there is no causation demonstrated. Because anti MJ people made stuff up doesn't mean anyone else can legitimately change how science or statistics work. You could make a case for MJ not causing problems but no more than that.

Yes, and if that were the only thing that the law accomplished it would totally justify legalizing weed.

 

[Jhhnn]

Yes, and if that were the only thing that the law accomplished it would totally justify legalizing weed.

Absolutely correct. Cannabis users are otherwise good citizens like everybody else. Take away the otherwise, and they're just good citizens. All that was ever required to prove that was one chance, and CO was willing to take it. Obama & Holder have enabled us entirely, as well. So far, this Colorado experience is unfolding in a very favorable fashion for everybody willing to get along with each other & show mutual respect. That will only deepen over time.

Craziness, Crime, Carnage & Corruption? Don't hold your breath.

 

[Pulsar]

1. I support the legalization of Marijuana.
2. Trying to do what the OP just did is tantamount to claim global cooling because one year is cooler than the year before it. For gods sake, learn statistics. It's a single freakin data point, one which you can't even directly relate to MJ usage.