7 ms·

I thought it was a great article, it will be a long time before authors can resist Cheech and Chong references, a bit like how motoring writers cannot review an

• rms 16y ago
  >What the people retailing pot will find is that an easily-growable agricultural commodity is subject to perfect competition and prices will be driven down to a very low level. There will be something of a price floor set by virtue of cannabis potency. Already, black market cannabis when consumed efficiently is effective with dosages that cost around $1. Prices will fall, but not by 10-fold because people are willing to pay more to get high than they would for a single cigarette. A pack of cannabis cigarettes at a gas station is always going to cost more than a pack of tobacco cigarettes, because people expect to pay more for a product of sufficient strength.
• s3graham 16y ago
  > I wouldn't be surprised if the eventual winning business model looks more like a Walgreens and less like Starbucks. Hmm, I was thinking the opposite. A fancier more "treat"-like atmosphere with higher prices and more exotic products would help to differentiate. I guess both probably have a market.
• michaelkeenan 16y ago
  > What the people retailing pot will find is that an easily-growable agricultural commodity is subject to perfect competition and prices will be driven down to a very low level. That might depend on the regulatory constraints. From the article: "A batch of regulations known as Amendment 1284, signed by the governor on June 7, is expected to put many dispensaries out of business, eliminating the amateurs and semipros who jumped in because there was nothing to stop them, but greatly strengthening those who have the wherewithal to remain standing." As in other industries, onerous regulations might help large companies by raising barriers to entry and hindering startups that can't afford to jump through the hoops.
• JeffL 16y ago
  Like the prices of wine all get driven down to a very low level? I suspect there will be lots of expensive premium varieties.
  • dagw 16y ago
    Most people drink wine because it tastes really nice, most people smoke pot to get stoned. I've listen to my pothead friends discuss pot, and not one of them has ever mentioned its flavour and bouquet. Equally I've never heard wine connoisseurs talk about which wine is better for getting you really drunk. If people drank wine simply to get drunk then no wines would cost more than 2-3$ a bottle.
    • jambalaya 16y ago
      I'm not a pothead and I'll talk about flavor. In California you can buy stuff that taste like blueberry pancakes. I'm not exaggerating, it's pretty funny.
    • garply 16y ago
      Maybe you don't have enough friends who smoke pot. Not only will marijuana consumers judge by flavor, they will also judge by harshness, and, probably most importantly, by the style of intoxication the strain creates (for example racing, innovative thoughts vs. warm, bodily comfort).
      • dagw 16y ago
        Oh they discuss harshness and intoxication. However I imagine that those two aspects will be a lot easier to control and manipulate via simple chemical means if marijuana productions ever becomes properly industrialized and placed in the hands of smart and educated engineers. I just don't see a pot smoker paying $20 for a joint that tastes a bit different from $2 joint assuming they both get him equally intoxicated.
        • garply 16y ago
          No, I don't think taste is the biggest selling point, but just as there is a dizzying array of potential flavors in nature, so too is there a dizzying array of marijuana intoxications. Just because most types of 'drunk' are similar does not mean most types of 'marijuana high' are similar - thus while a wine type might trade on its flavor, a marijuana strain would almost certainly trade on its style of intoxication. That is, you can make niche highs just as you can make niche wine flavors.
• andrewf 16y ago
  I suspect pot-friendly merchant services is also a profitable niche.