Marijuana

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

Apparently, they're growing specialized strains to treat different illnesses:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health...cal-marijuana/

I hope most of the country will at least embrace medical use of marijuana; so many could benefit.

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My objection to just legalizing medical marijuana is that basically if you're honest and don't have some medical condition that could putatively be treated with marijuana, you get screwed. Unless you are an employer, who really cares if you're taking a little pot now and then as long as you don't drive on it?
As for the amounts of THC, yes they are *much* higher than in the past. People used to smoke basically low-level ditch weed, but once the crackdowns occurred in the 80s, growers wanted it to be worth their while to take the risk, and had to bring everything inside. Thus, hydroponic growing was born, and pretty much only enthusiasts were involved in the growing so they got it more and more concentrated with different strains and such. It's really a great example of capitalism and inventiveness....sort of like how the mob perfected organized crime and money laundering during Prohibition. The way the growing works now, there's tracking from seed to sale. I do not know if sellers give buyers some idea of the level of THC in a particular strain or batch. This is generally required with alcohol, but I haven't tried to buy pot at this point. Some of my coworkers have, so I suppose I can ask them....

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Originally Posted by jp1

I would suspect that for the same reason that pot has reportedly easier for teens to get than alcohol (no regulation/enforcement/concern from sellers about the purchaser's age) that with pot legal the black market channels that were so easy for teens to access will likely dry up somewhat.

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A couple of young people I know are excited to turn 21 so they can buy pot. My personal experience is that it was far easier to get pot underage than alcohol, especially for younger teens. IE, I didn't have any problem getting alcohol at 20, but at 16 I would not have known where to start other than my parents' liquor cabinet. My brother helped himself until they wised up; I observed some extremely negative effects of drinking in my teens that led me to believe I was better off without it. The worry with legal pot to some degree is parents having it and being too casual with it. Like anything else, it depends on the child. This is also a major issue with prescription painkillers, though, as well as some types of cough syrup, paint, whipped cream and the list goes on. My hope is that it will get more difficult for young teens to get pot and that it will be seen as something adults can do but teens should wait on, similar to alcohol, cigarettes and sex. I'm not under any illusions that there will be no chance for teens to get it, but if it's seen as something they can get "some day" and regulations make it more difficult to get (or quantities become much smaller) then that will be a win, IMO. I don't pretend to know how to talk to teens, but there are some studies indicating that pot increases the risk of mental illness, especially schizophrenia, when used by teens. The risk seems to decrease/disappear by early adulthood, so that may be a talking point when discussing drug use with teenagers. A blanket "don't use drugs, you'll wind up crazy/dead/in prison" is a falsehood teens can see through, especially if they observe adults who are partaking. However, "wait til 21 because your brain won't be as messed up" may at least delay use a few crucial years.

I read that it can cost $400/ounce to buy pot in Colorado at a legal vendor. Seems pretty prohibitive to both the young and the old :-)! Wonder if black market and illegal trafficking of MJ will increase due to the high cost and heavy taxation - both by consumers and manufacturers?

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Originally Posted by Spartana

I read that it can cost $400/ounce to buy pot in Colorado at a legal vendor. Seems pretty prohibitive to both the young and the old :-)! Wonder if black market and illegal trafficking of MJ will increase due to the high cost and heavy taxation - both by consumers and manufacturers?

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From what I read, the regulations that a recreational vendor must follow are pretty restrictive and the paperwork to get licensed is quite cumbersome, much more so than for a medical license, so there really are not a huge numbers of stores so far. I think something like 40 for the whole state, but that number will grow for sure. I imagine it will be a sellers market until there are more vendors and I'll bet the tourists in the ski areas are going soaked. But you might be right about it pushing sales back to the black market. It all seems like a big experiment.

There are a couple of recreational vendors not too far from my house. They are seedy looking little cubby holes of a store with small overhead. I don't know what a grow operation involves but I bet the profit margin is either large or very large. I've wondered if or how many millionaires have been made already from these little operations.

We have a friend who has been a licensed grower in CO for 3 or 4 years now. He has a manageable sized operation (security quickly becomes an issue if you get very big). He has also re-invested almost all his profits into better equipment so has had to live very frugally for the past few years. Now that the capital expenditures are behind him he says his income should be around $100K. A nice living, but certainly nothing exceptional and right in line with reasonable expectations for any small business with his level of gross sales. Getting a grower's license is not akin to hitting the lottery.

And yes, the reports from our old ski resort stomping ground say that $400/oz. is about the going rate. A lot more than the $40 we paid in the late 70's for "Mexican Brown". But then again there's at least 10x the THC in this stuff compared to our high school hits so in a way the bang for the buck from 2014 legal weed is identical to that of 1979 contraband. Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

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Originally Posted by Gregg

Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

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I guess the bad deal comes from not letting you grow your own plant(s) in your own garden, something that I am given to understand is not rocket science.

Heck, the BATF lets us produce a certain amount of wine and beer at home for personal use (though not distilled spirits...), something that requires a bit of skill and equipment, yet we are forbidden to place a plant seed in dirt.

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Originally Posted by bae

I guess the bad deal comes from not letting you grow your own plant(s) in your own garden, something that I am given to understand is not rocket science.

Heck, the BATF lets us produce a certain amount of wine and beer at home for personal use (though not distilled spirits...), something that requires a bit of skill and equipment, yet we are forbidden to place a plant seed in dirt.

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Lunacy to be sure, I could not agree more. And I also understand that growing marijuana is not particularly difficult. Some have even said that it grows like a weed. (bada bing)

My mother, an avid gardener, watered the pretty plants that were volunteering in the back yard. Right under my sibling's window. You guessed it; Mom was an early pot farmer (if unaware).