Plummeting Marijuana Prices Create A Panic In California
May 26th, 2010Understand the purpose of the drug war with just one story. Hint: Law enforcement is used to keep supplies down and prices high.
So what changed?
California is broke and the state government wants a cut of the action.
Via: NPR:
For decades, illegal marijuana cultivation has been an economic lifeblood for three counties in northern California known as the Emerald Triangle.
The war on drugs and frequent raids by federal drug agents have helped support the local economy — keeping prices for street sales of pot high and keeping profits rich.
But high times are changing. Legal pot, under the guise of the California’s medical marijuana laws, has spurred a rush of new competition. As a result, the wholesale price of pot grown in these areas is plunging.
I can’t believe what I’m reading: $5,000.00 a pound? ‘down’ to $2,000.00 a pound? This is stratospheric. No matter how good it is, who can afford an ounce of such these days? And they say they can’t unload it? As good as it must be, I find it hard to believe they can’t unload it at least out of state.
Back in my day, a retailer recouped his pound price in the first ten ounces. A $300 pound gave out $30 ounces. If that’s still the working economic scale, we’re talking about $200.00 ounces. Nowadays, a high quality ounce can be had for $80-$85.00.
Eek! Looking now at THQ, seems the article’s spot-on.
Egad. What’s this world come to. I’m counting my blessings.
http://forum.grasscity.com/seasoned-tokers/204673-trans-high-market-quotations-thmq-report-pot-prices.html
I wonder what things are like nowadays back in South Florida.
maybe someone at NPR has been reading counterpunch (HA!)…
ALEXANDER COCKBURN: Marijuana, Boom and Bust in Humboldt County
@tochigi: thanks for the link.
I found this quote from it pertinent:
“The New Deal began with an end to prohibition of the sale of alcohol across the United States. The individual small producers of bourbon – some good, a lot awful, or downright poison – shut down, and the big liquor producers took over, successfully pushing for illegalization of marijuana in 1937. How long will the small producers of gourmet marijuana last before the big companies run them off, pushing through the sort of regulatory ‘standards’ that are now punishing small organic farmers?”
Which side will Money ultimately bet on? In more ways than one, I believe it will ultimately be an either/or proposition and alcohol will slowly lose ground. (And I’m sure Willie Nelson could convincingly argue against me, yeah. Joe Bageant too for that matter.)
The funny thing is, we’re now finding that psychedelics and psychotropics aid in mitigating alcohol damage and habit. Here’s a link to norml on the subject of marijuana compounds offsetting alcohol-induced toxicity:
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7958
This link was found in a post by Lorenzo Hagerty covering quite broadly the current state of pot news and issues:
http://www.matrixmasters.net/blogs/?p=1523