4 ms·

There's still an underground cigarettes market in my country. It helps that we (a EU country) have a land-border with some other non-EU countries, we have very

There's still an underground cigarettes market in my country. It helps that we (a EU country) have a land-border with some other non-EU countries, we have very high taxes on cigarettes (compared to our revenues, at least), they don't, it's only natural that money will find a way. The authorities do announce "contraband cigarettes captures" every week or two but I'm pretty sure that's just scratching the surface. They've recently also managed to "capture" an An-2 (great plane) on its way back from a contraband run, pretty cool. [1] https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/evenimente/un-avion-cu-tigari-de-contrabanda-din-ucraina-care-se-indrepta-spre-romania-a-fost-capturat-de-politistii-din-republica-moldova-1667139 https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/evenimente/un-avion-...

dumbfoundded 5y ago
It's not just the taxes. It's how hard it is to sell weed legally. All of the hoops and expenses add up. In Florida, it's like 20 licenses that cost $25M each. We should make it as easy as selling alcohol and then the prices will match.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  Is your claim that it costs half a billion dollars to setup to sell weed legally in FL? That defies all order-of-magnitude estimation.
  - dumbfoundded 5y ago
    No, $25M is the open market price for a license charges a company to pick up a license. Looks like someone sold a license for much more (0). Only 22 licenses for companies in Florida have been granted (1). In Florida, companies have to vertically integrate their whole supplychain and not mix with any other cannabis company. It takes opening like 50 dispensaries under a license to break even. Florida sells $1.2B of cannabis a year & $500M in acquisitions were completed in Florida last year. (0) https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/10/15/for-sale-two-florida-medical-marijuana-licenses-cost-95-million/ https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/10/15/fo... (1) https://mjbizdaily.com/florida-medical-marijuana-operators-benefit-from-state-court-decision/ https://mjbizdaily.com/florida-medical-marijuana-operators-b... (2) https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-msos-on-buying-spree-in-florida-in-bid-to-take-on-trulieve/#:~:text=But%20with%20Florida's%20market%20now,cannabis%20law%20firm%20Vicente%20Sederberg https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-msos-on-buying-spree-in-flor....
buescher 5y ago
There's an underground market in cigarettes in high-tax states of the US also! https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129934561 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129934...

dumbfoundded 5y ago

It's not just the taxes. It's how hard it is to sell weed legally. All of the hoops and expenses add up. In Florida, it's like 20 licenses that cost $25M each. We should make it as easy as selling alcohol and then the prices will match.

sokoloff 5y ago
Is your claim that it costs half a billion dollars to setup to sell weed legally in FL? That defies all order-of-magnitude estimation.
- dumbfoundded 5y ago
  No, $25M is the open market price for a license charges a company to pick up a license. Looks like someone sold a license for much more (0). Only 22 licenses for companies in Florida have been granted (1). In Florida, companies have to vertically integrate their whole supplychain and not mix with any other cannabis company. It takes opening like 50 dispensaries under a license to break even. Florida sells $1.2B of cannabis a year & $500M in acquisitions were completed in Florida last year. (0) https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/10/15/for-sale-two-florida-medical-marijuana-licenses-cost-95-million/ https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/10/15/fo... (1) https://mjbizdaily.com/florida-medical-marijuana-operators-benefit-from-state-court-decision/ https://mjbizdaily.com/florida-medical-marijuana-operators-b... (2) https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-msos-on-buying-spree-in-florida-in-bid-to-take-on-trulieve/#:~:text=But%20with%20Florida's%20market%20now,cannabis%20law%20firm%20Vicente%20Sederberg https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-msos-on-buying-spree-in-flor....

buescher 5y ago

There's an underground market in cigarettes in high-tax states of the US also! https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129934561 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129934...