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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Marijuana Meets Market Forces |
| 2010-05-16 |
| 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. "Outdoor growers are having a hard time unloading their fall harvest," Custer says. "And this is six months later and when some people do move it, they don't get nearly the price they were hoping for." That goes for both legal growers who cultivate limited quantities of pot under the medical marijuana laws and illegal operators who often grow larger amounts. Prices are now much less than $2,000 a pound, according to interviews with more than a dozen growers and dealers. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman says some growers can't get rid of their processed pot at any price. "We arrested a man who had ... 800 pounds of processed," Allman says. "Eight hundred pounds of processed. And we asked him: 'What are you going to do with 800 pounds of processed?' And he said, 'I don't know.'" Part of what is going on is jwh-018. It's a new synthetic cannabinoid, is CHEAP and LEGAL -- not just in California. People can buy preparations marketed as K2 or Spice at virtually any head shop -- or get the pure chemical powder via mail order. It's not 100% the same as the real thing, but it's about 95% there. The stuff works, it gets you HIGH. Cheap. Legal. (Probably causes cancer, too). Oh yeah, it also does NOT show up on drug tests. I know a bunch of people who don't smoke weed anymore and just do JWH. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #8 it also does NOT show up on drug tests for the moment. Better living through chemistry cuts both ways. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-05-16 15:36 |
| #7 "Processed" is not a noun, Mr. Allman. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2010-05-16 14:24 |
| #6 mexican drug gangs arenb't too worried about the pot industry. They are making more money off cocaine and meth and it takes alot less space for those two too hide and sneak into the US and alot broader profit margin.I would guess more high grade marijuana is coming across the canadian border than the mexican but you still have the mexican shwag but no one wants too smoke that crap when you have alot better strains out there. I would watch the K2 stuff for tyhe same reason as stated above . It is made in China and remember those are the ppl who made the junk baby formula that killed a bunch of children. |
| Posted by: chris 2010-05-16 10:45 |
| #5 Anonymoose, you hang with a hipper crowd than me. My concern with K2 and other synthetics is that it is manufactured in China with all those implications. The good news is that means the mexican drug gangs pot operations should become less profitable. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2010-05-16 09:46 |
| #4 One of the biggest arguments against legalizing and taxing it is that not only can it be grown anywhere, but that its quality and strength can be manipulated to a great degree. The cigarette makers have long known that this is a major problem. To start with, they want a weak and bulky product, so they can fill a typical cigarette tube with it, and it will be limited to only a slightly intoxicating effect. Any more than that could be a liability nightmare. So, they start with cigarettes that are 2x, 5x, 10x, etc. in strength, like OTC vs. prescription medicines. Liability again comes into play with use restrictions reflecting back on the manufacturer. That is, if you smoke a 5x, you cannot drive a car or operate machinery, or the *manufacturer* is to blame. See the problem? Stupid liability laws. But the home grower doesn't have to contend with all this crap, so can grow his own at a tenth of the cost for commercially grown product. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-16 09:37 |
| #3 Legalize and tax it. The revenue will be of alcohol or tabacco proportions. Indeed. Spending hand-over fist to 'prohibit' the stuff patently doesn't work. Why burn money on tail-chasing and wild goose chases when you could make money from it? The same people will still be smoking it, criminals won't be running the trade, it would be regulated, taxes can be raised and, perhaps most importantly of all, you'd be treating people like adults rather than disobedient wards of the state. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-05-16 03:51 |
| #2 Legalize and tax it. The revenue will be of alcohol or tabacco proportions. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-05-16 03:02 |
| #1 I know a bunch of people who don't smoke weed anymore and just do JWH. I wouldn't know, but it sounds like it would take half the fun out of it. Eminently more practical, though. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-05-16 00:45 |