Just drive down Colorado 285 through the San Luis Valley.
The North end looks like they are filming a sequel to Breaking Bad and the further South you go the more it looks like Sicario.
It was all farmers and red necks before the legalization of weed. Now when I travel through there I make a pit stop just after Bueno Vista to top off the gas tank and put something chambered in 5.56 on the passenger seat.

About time, we don’t need potheads on the road or any place else. They’re an accident looking for a place to happen!

quote:

Originally posted by Marlin Fan:
About time, we don’t need potheads on the road or any place else. They’re an accident looking for a place to happen!

Tell us you didn't read the thread, without telling us you didn't read the thread...


Oregon isn't considering cracking down on marijuana users, or those who are driving under the influence. They're just wanting to crack down on unlicensed marijuana growers and sellers.

No that could possibly cut into tax revenues.

quote:

Tell us you didn't read the thread, without telling us you didn't read the thread...

Isn't that a SF tradition?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
We just "legalized" it here in MO, except that's not exactly what happened.
We've created a government sponsored cartel.
It's still illegal to cultivate or sell unless you receive one of the few licenses awarded by the State.

Which won't be able to fill the demand bubble, so criminal groups will step in with more illegal weed to fill the vacuum, and the greatly increased number of users will happily buy the cheaper and more readily available illegal weed.

Same song and verse as every other state with legalized marijuana.

Yep, that's what Washington state did. I don't partake and haven't in quite a while, but I did buy plenty of weed at the "legal" shops. The prices there are as bad or worse than street prices ever were. I had a few friends who had connections and I was able to occasionally buy better stuff in bulk for cheaper through them - still black market, and illegal at every level.

If you're going to make something illegal, there will always be a black market. If you're going to put in place measures that keep the prices high because you went with the "legalize it and tax the shit out of it" model that people who know fuck-all about smoke advocated for, then there will continue to be a black market for people who don't want to pay artificially inflated prices.

Maybe, just maybe, if you get the government to get their fucking noses out of it at every level and not put in place obscene tax structures on selling it, you'll have enough people growing it safely that you won't need to choose between going to the shop down the street where there's absurd amounts of cash and dope inviting armed burglaries, or some possible cartel clown who's selling some schwaggy looking outdoor.

Anyway, I'm sober and intend to stay that way, and that includes anything with THC, so I don't have a dog in this fight. I think it's ridiculous that weed is somehow still a problem in this country in 2022.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
The states have to realize they're in competition with the black market, and need to structure their legalization to deal with that. Legal weed tends to be a luxury product at high cost. They need to make it easier and cheaper to make and sell legally if they want to squeeze out the black market.

Nailed it.

quote:

Originally posted by Marlin Fan:
About time, we don’t need potheads on the road or any place else. They’re an accident looking for a place to happen!

Honestly, and I have a lot of experience doing both and consorting with people who did both, alcohol is far and away the bigger problem here. This is the favorite go-to bullshit argument of people who hate weed for whatever reason. Impaired is impaired as far as the law is concerned, but driving stoned and driving drunk are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I'd rather deal with people driving stoned than drunk.

If you're going to legalize pot let everyone grow it to their heart's content. Treat it like basil - some people will grow it, some will buy it, but no one's getting shot over it.

I understand the government wants the money but that isn't a legitimate reason to regulate a plant, especially where people's lives are being destroyed.

You mean they half-legalized it and are trying to control who gets to grow it with the government, and the illegal growers are way better at it and selling it cheaper than the government controlled ones? And their answer is MORE regulations instead of fewer?

I'm shocked.

Real easy way to get the cartels out of it. If you're going to make it legal, just let people grow their own. Then the cartels pot would be valueless because everyone could throw a plant or two in their garden or a planter on their balcony.

Seems like the answer is no or very low taxation. The cost of importing illegal crops is more than zero. Local growing can be very cost competitive as long as there are no artificial additions such as taxes or onerous regulation.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveL:
If you're going to legalize pot let everyone grow it to their heart's content. Treat it like basil - some people will grow it, some will buy it, but no one's getting shot over it.

I understand the government wants the money but that isn't a legitimate reason to regulate a plant, especially where people's lives are being destroyed.

It just proves the point that it is legalized for one reason and that's the potential taxes it could generate. Politicians just can't get enough of our money so as long as you can tie a big enough tax bill to it then they would legalize just about anything.

People can and do grow their own here.

The Cartels and such have been here a long time, legalizing it did nothing to stop that.

Hahahahaha hahahahaha

SeanConnery/ My day has come/SeanConneryoff

May I point out that it's all illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act?

I don't think this has changed. They just choose to look the other way.

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

― Aldous Huxley

By the shop someone is growing a metric shit ton of it.
The owner of the company sent out an E-mail asking people to not smoke weed in the building as he thought it was somebody smoking out in the head.

It's so rank it burns your eyes at times.
If swing doesn't shut off the exhaust fan it just fills the shop up, just about makes you gag.
Not sure what's worse, that or a rotting garbage truck.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Rogue, you hit the nail on the head, but it wasn't the nail you wanted to hit.

quote:

People still buy the illegal weed, because of the extra hoops and higher costs required to obtain the taxed and restricted legal weed

The states have to realize they're in competition with the black market, and need to structure their legalization to deal with that. Legal weed tends to be a luxury product at high cost. They need to make it easier and cheaper to make and sell legally if they want to squeeze out the black market.

So what you're telling me is, one criminal group (the government) is trying to make money off a substance at a lower price point than a criminal group (organized crime) has been doing for years?
And it's not working out?

Aww come on, man... Next thing you're going to say is that water is wet, or the sky is blue.

The only reason Politicans are Politicans is because they weren't smart enough to be good criminals, but smart enough to legalize their bullshit.

.gov CAN NOT come up with a $10 bag of marijuana to sell. It's literally fucking impossible for them. When they get done, the $10 bag of marijuana is $8 worth of marijuana and $17 worth of taxation! .gov wants that $$$ at the local, county, state and federal levels!

Meanwhile, "Pookie" on the corner is slinging $10 bags of weed all day, every day. (Racist bastard is selling that $10 bag for $20 to the lil Honkeys that are coming into his hood to buy)

I have 2 friends of mine that have been selling weed for who-knows-how-long. And not legality, but not slinging it on the corner. They both sell a higher end product as well. I was genuinely interested in investing in the legal business of weed sales. So who do I ask for advice in that area? Well, the two experts. Both came out and without hesitation said they couldn't wait until it became legal here in Illinois! The only thing they were worried about was their supply meeting their demand. Sure as hell, these two are making money hand over fist! The one expanded further and is doing high end edibles- chocolates, cookies, frosting on cakes, cupcakes... He has a few chefs (like ones with degrees from culinary arts programs, not just some dude that made brownies back in 1992) that bake for him on the weekends.

All of it is TAX FREE.
Uncle Sam can't compete with that.

Can't throw a rock in southern OR without hitting 50 grows. Been that way for a long time. Jackson County tried to institute a permit a few years back for the approx 1500 grows. Something like 1000 bucks and you get the permit. Saw in the paper, they had about 8 people apply for it.

The feds were up there taking out huge Chinese grows and some cartel stuff in the last couple years. It's being cracked down on.

The leadership in OR is not taken seriously, and why should they be.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Real easy way to get the cartels out of it. If you're going to make it legal, just let people grow their own. Then the cartels pot would be valueless because everyone could throw a plant or two in their garden or a planter on their balcony.

That's exactly what you can do in Michigan. Up to 12 plants per person 21 or older. You can't legally sell it though (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Dispensary pot isn't cheap. Between the licenses, the taxes on every step from seed to sale and the regulations, it's pricey to buy an OZ. Home grown prices remain high because first it's technically illegal to sell what you grow and dispensaries set the legal prices so they just slightly undercut it.

The reason i voted against legal recreational marijuana was not because i care about people smoking pot, it was because the government was taxing it. Giving money to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

You want to get the money out of dope? Let anyone grow and sell all they want and the price will drop overnight. You know, capitalism.