Legalization could slash the price of pot 80% (Rand Study)

[kpete]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Legalization could slash the price of pot 80%
Cost could drop to $38 per ounce if Proposition 19 passes, Rand Corp. researchers say. The tax implications and probable rise in consumption are impossible to predict, study finds.

By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times

July 8, 2010


California's cash crop could become dirt cheap if the state legalizes marijuana.

Researchers associated with the Rand Corp.'s Drug Policy Research Center said Wednesday that not much is certain about the potential impact of Proposition 19 except that the price of California's choicest weed could plunge more than 80%, down from $300 to $450 per ounce to about $38.

"That's a significant drop," said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the center. "We're very clear about the fact that the price will go down."

The implications of such a drop would be profound. Kilmer and four other researchers who analyzed marijuana legalization said consumption would rise, but they could not determine with any certainty by how much. "We cannot rule out increases of 50% to 100% or perhaps higher, but we just don't know," he said.




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Why not legalize marijuana and tax it, like liquor?

7:20 am July 8, 2010, by ctucker
http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2010/07/08/why-not-legalize-marijuana-and-tax-it-like-liquor/?cxntfid=blogs_cynthia_tucker

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. Excellent! I'll save a couple of hundred a month!

That will be a real, tangible boost to the local economy, and with the tax money on top of it, we could save the entire state just with the revenue from the bedroom communities in Los Angeles alone!

[Uncle Joe]

10. I agree, Cronus, if it dropped that much, more resources would be available for spending on other

aspects of the economy, savings accumulation or investments.

[sasquuatch55]

18. Do it now!!!!!!

nt

[Warpy]

2. Undercut the black market and bust the gangs

That's what legalization across the board will do, folks.

End the drug war. We can't afford to continue it and, besides, the drugs won a long time ago.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Gigadittoes

bust the gangs...

[Hydra]

6. The CIA has too many hands in the game

But that's always been my argument.

Legalize it
Regulate quality
Tax it
Offer good options to people who want to quit

Would kill a HUGE amount of crime almost immediately.

[awnobles]

28. Bingo

They sell protection, with legality they have nothing to sell. They produce nothing, they will have to move on to other rackets.

[onehandle]

3. What will happen to the price of pot when Big Tobacco takes it over?

Because they will. They have been preparing for this for decades according to internal documents.

[tridim]

7. Just don't buy it.

Grow your own or buy from someone who grows for the pleasure of it.

Big tobacco will try, but we don't have to buy.

[onehandle]

12. Big Tobacco already has the land, the cash and most importantly... the distribution system.

Most buyers will not bother to grow their own when they can just pick up a pack of pre-rolled weed at the Quickie-Mart.

[tridim]

16. Maybe, but that doesn't equate to "taking over"

There are other options for those of us who will never buy corporate, irradiated, chemically "enhanced" pot.

It's easier to grow, and MUCH easier to cure than tobacco.

[AtheistCrusader]

21. Pot is a remarkably forgiving crop.

If you grow damn near anything, including food crops, you can easily handle pot. It'll even work with crop rotation.

The distribution side would have to be co-opted or built, but it's not much of a challenge.

[Oregone]

35. Pot is far more like microbrew than cancer sticks...

Yes, I know there are some variations in cigarettes, but anything near pot? I don't think so. People will always spend a bit more for the good stuff, or try their own hand at if they prefer (and there are hundreds of different strains, with unique effects to one degree or another). Big tobacco will not be able to completely own the pot industry, no more than big beer can push out microbrewers (who offer much more sophisticated beers). They probably pump out tasteless, low-THC schwag which will be great for the Coors drinkers.

[eShirl]

43. +1

[TroglodyteScholar]

29. That's the problem.

I'll bet you a dollar that if/when mj is legalized, the penalties for growing either stay the same or get harsher. How can the corporations OR the government make any $$$MONEY$$$ from it if the public doesn't depend on them to provide it?

[Romulox]

9. Nonsense. Marijuana is simple to cultivate in all 50 states.

Not like tobacco (a picky grower with very specific needs--the best claims Virginia as its origin to this day.)

[onehandle]

13. See response #12. nt

[Ignis]

24. Yeah, but that's a different matter.

Tobacco is no longer a reliable small-scale crop, even for personal use. A person can grow their own MMJ in a closet, herb garden, or backyard plot.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. It'll grow much easier than tobacco in your yard. And some people do even that.

[eShirl]

42. Yup; If I were still a tobacco user, I would try going this route...

http://www.seedman.com/Tobacco.htm

[w4rma]

37. I hope they get into the pot industry. Big tobacco knows how to lobby. (nt)

[tridim]

5. If that happens, CA growers will have no choice but to export their product

The whole World needs to legalize.

Honestly I don't think this will pass, because the growers don't want it to pass.

[Oregone]

17. Yeah, I wonder about it too

Growers, 49 other states, pharma, beer, tobacco, etc...

Really makes me wonder if itll have a shot in hell with the money thatll be against it.

[Romulox]

8. High prices guaranty illegality. There is no golden goose, drug warriors.

The only cure for your addiction (to easy $$$$) is cold turkey, drug warriors.

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. And after mail order is allowed, FedEx sees profits rise by 7%

:evilgrin:

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. Local artisan pipe makers boom - pay living wages too + free pot

- Movie rentals up 50%
- Fast food joints report large increase in sales
- Crime rate drops dramatically
- prisons have extra capacity
- costs for prisoner upkeep are slashed
- costly prisons are closed
- convenience stores report a boost in business
- happy people are seen walking around smoking reefer in parks

...and on and on and on...

[pattmarty]

30. If only.............

[Cronus Protagonist]

34. (drug) war is over... if you want it to be

If I can cannibalize Lennon... :P

[Proletariatprincess]

15. The biggest savings to the state will be law enforcement and prison costs.

[Caliman73]

33. Agreed

People are trying to argue the "legalizing pot will not bring the tons of cash angle" but they fail or willingly forget that mass of the savings will also come from ending the STUPID war on pot. Legalizing pot is not a panacea. It will not cure all the ills in California with the budget, but it will show that we are rational about the effects of pot and the impact that this travesty of prison for profit is costing the state.

[notesdev]

20. in other words...

... almost the entirety of the profits from selling illegal drugs is directly attributable to the War on Drugs itself.

Or to put it another way, the Drug Warriors are the main reason why the drug runners are in business.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

22. Welcome back to the 70s!

Those were the days, my friend, I thought they'd never end...

:headbang:

[Politicalboi]

23. I smoke every day and would love to pay only $38.00 an ounce

But if the calculation is right, they are wasting their opportunity to get more taxes. They could charge $40.00 for just one pack of 20 rolled joints, and that would be a bargain. I would suggest keeping it at least $100.00 an ounce till we get Ca out of the red. Use it to it's fullest. Then lower the price as the taxes do their job. Or only allow Med patients the $38.00 an ounce cost but tax non prescriptions. And we must allow for imported stuff too. The shit they grow out here ain't shit. Smells good, looks good, but isn't as good as it used to be. Trust me. I've been smoking over 30 years now. Nothing out there gives you the classic glazed stoned look anymore, or the radical cotton mouth. I haven't seen or had that experience in at least 20 years.

[frylock]

27. they're talking a $50 tax/oz.

[WheelWalker]

31. I'm doubtful it will be that high (no pun intended) to begin.... the idea

is to kill the illegal market. If you tax too high before you kill the illegal market, you'd just keep it under lights.

[bemildred]

32. I would think the idea was to maximize tax revenue.

It's a weed, you can grow it anywhere, there is no illegal market once you legalize possession. But one would be willing to pay a substantial tax to get a high quality product in a convenient way, just like with lots of other products,

[boomerbust]

25. Wow

You're talking 1970 prices

[ovidsen]

40. Those were the days....

I remember in college back in the 70s when my friends and I routinely bought Mexican weed for about $165. A pound. True, it wasn't "take off the top of your head" Thai stick or Maui Wowie, and it wasn't hashish (what's that?) but it did the trick.

[2Design]

26. this would reduce crime and ill begotten funds - and get tax revenue n/t

[guitar man]

36. Woo hoo!!

$38 an ounce!!

:woohoo:

[costahawk1987]

38. That would kill the risk

of getting popped, robbed or smoked trying to score in strange towns. I'd be enjoying myself a hell of a lot more with a j than these fkn 40s. At least I won't get in trouble with this "safe," legal drug. And I am watching 'American Graffiti,' so I shouldn't gripe too much.

[yurbud]

39. drug dealers are probably contributing to defeat the prop

[Socal31]

41. It is basically legal already.

No price drops as far as I know.

[Beam Me Up]

44. There's a lot of instability in the Oaksterdam market.

I know quite a few growers here (Oakland, CA). What has happened is an up-surge of growers, all hoping to cash in, to the point where the local market has become saturated. The best quality is still holding in price but anything less than that, they can hardly get rid of it. I was recently offered about a quarter pound of good but not great in trade for a $300 item. I declined.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

45. woot