4 ms·

> For a daily or heavy smoker, a ~50% discount is a massive amount of money. Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The

> For a daily or heavy smoker, a ~50% discount is a massive amount of money. Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The places are loaded with cash because they cant legally accept credit or debit cards. So you have to bring cash or use their ATM and get charged a withdrawal fee. This also means they are targets for robbery so security at these places is crazy with guards, waiting rooms and check points. This meeans you have to wait upwards of 20 minutes just to get inside to wait on a counter line for another 10 minutes. The experience is miserable. My NYC dealer has been in the game for ages and moves volume. You can buy plates (pounds) from him if you wanted (usually $1800-2400 depending on the strain). I send a text and get an automated menu reply, text back my order plus address and within an hour or less someone is outside in an "uber" or "lyft" with my weed. I pay $80-100 for 0.5 oz. BTW, if you live in NYC and pay over ~$30-35 for an eighth ounce you're getting ripped off BIG time (unless its in a branded bag like Jungle Boys etc.) I have a friend who moved to Williamsburg tell me how they buy from same the guy I do, more than double the price and sell it to "stupid rich white kids from Iowa".

hackingthelema 5y ago
> Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The places are loaded with cash because they cant legally accept credit or debit cards. So you have to bring cash or use their ATM and get charged a withdrawal fee. This also means they are targets for robbery so security at these places is crazy with guards, waiting rooms and check points. This meeans you have to wait upwards of 20 minutes just to get inside to wait on a counter line for another 10 minutes. The experience is miserable. That sounds awful to me. Here in Canada, legal dispensaries accept debit, cash, and various credit cards; you can order online for in-person, same-day delivery (within a couple hours); you can order online and pickup in person, too. If you go in-person, you might have to wait if their employees are all helping other customers, but otherwise I can be in and out within 5 minutes. > I pay $80-100 for 0.5 oz. That seems obscene, coming from Canada. A decent-quality 28g bag of weed here tops out at 160 CAD, from what I've seen (edit: and I just bought an ounce I am perfectly happy with for 90 CAD). I'm not sure I've seen an ounce for more than that. Half-oz usually range from 60-80 CAD, depending on quality/sales. At this point I greatly prefer the legal dispensaries to any black market weed for quality, convenience, price -- whether MOM or dealers. I think the only place dealers would have an advantage is more freedom to offer a better price to certain clients.
- golergka 5y ago
  It's wild hearing that in other countries drug dealers still accept cash and meet people in person. Although prices for practically everything are way higher here (10g would cost you about 200$ or more), the convenience of using bitcoin and not having to meet a single soul to make a purchase at any hour of the day still outweighs it for me.
  - MisterTea 5y ago
    > not having to meet a single soul Then how do you get your weed? Teleporter?
    - golergka 5y ago
      Deaddrop. You get an address, sometimes a GPS spot, a couple of photos, and retrieve whatever substance you ordered yourself.
      - MisterTea 5y ago
        yeesh. That sounds awful. The reason why I get curb side are: 1. If he doesn't have your number in his phone ahead of time, he wont respond. I had to be recommended by a close friend of his who is in turn good friends with me. He has to trust you and any deviations from basic rules will get you banned (he ghosts you). 2. He doesn't deliver himself, he has 2-4 drivers he pays well ($400/day + all the weed you can smoke) 3. Most people in my neighborhood know how to mind their damn business or smoke too so no one gives a shit.
        golergka 5y ago
        Well, when a couple of grams of weed can easily get you a 7-10 year prison sentence, you define convenience a bit differently.
- kf6nux 5y ago
  For additional context to my Canadian friends, it's not actually legal in the US. Various states have banned state and local law enforcement from enforcing the federal law. Since it's still illegal federally, dispensaries can't use banks as their funds could be seized without a trial, and merchant services (credit/debit network access) can't offer services to those businesses as it would be aiding in a felony.
hoten 5y ago
Kind of an aside, but there are banks that reimburse withdrawal fees. Schwab is one.
- Redoubts 5y ago
  Many credit unions will do this too. (They don’t charge foreign atm fee, and reimburse for the atm’s fee)
xeromal 5y ago
You'd pay cash to a local dealer too so I don't really see the difference there.
- detaro 5y ago
  Don't they take payment apps? Also if the illegal competition is that much cheaper, not being more convenient is one more point against them.
  - xeromal 5y ago
    I doubt most take payment apps. I'm sure most are savvy enough to know their transactions are being monitored.
    - monocasa 5y ago
      In Colorado small time dealers will take payment apps, but anything wholesale is cash or crypto.
    - vmception 5y ago
      Dealers take payment apps. Nobody cares. Dealers and consumers don't care. DA isn't looking for consumers (for now, ideally the clock runs out before a future DA cares). Everyone knows there is a record. The apps don't care, as long as you don't literally say "FOR DRUGS LOLLZ" in the notes section, but apps and actual banks really don't care (about anything) they just want to maintain relationships with other banks and the national government, who care less and less. Try not to be in a circumstance where that kind of data matters to anyone who would respond to someone else's attempts to blackmail or extort you, the less people care the less effective the data is. Almost half of Congress is willing to liberate banks from pretending to care about this and they represent a vast majority of the population, so the flippening is coming.
      - xeromal 5y ago
        Let's hope!
unethical_ban 5y ago
As a Texan who has perused dispensaries in CO, OR and CA, I have never had such an unpleasant experience. In fact, the largest and most professional feeling dispensary was in SoCal. It felt like an apple store. There was no anteroom, and products were displayed in arrayed glass cases and hanging in walls. Several places I have been to have a small waiting area that you must be let to pass, but that is more common in my experience in smaller towns. I can't comment on the prices, since I have never bought bud illegally. But the in-store experiences have been just fine, and I don't have to hang out at a bar and try not to look like a cop to find a stranger selling. Edit, the CA experience was 2-3 years ago, so maybe things have gotten worse or maybe in places where rule of law is less enforced, things have changed.
NoSorryCannot 5y ago
I have noticed that the dispensary experience is very different in CA vs OR. Oregon dispensaries are often small headshop type places whereas every dispensary I've been to in California seems to be a more expensive operation with a bank-like queuing style. The Oregon dispensaries are also just more thick on the ground; can't throw a rock without hitting one. Not so common in CA and they're tucked into shitty office parks much of the time. Not sure why they're so different but I don't think it's the cash-only property that is doing it, since it's the same deal in OR.
schwartzworld 5y ago
> I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. And CA is way ahead of MA in this regard. Dispensaries here are plagued by supply issues and frequently sell poor quality product at a premium price.

hackingthelema 5y ago

> Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The places are loaded with cash because they cant legally accept credit or debit cards. So you have to bring cash or use their ATM and get charged a withdrawal fee. This also means they are targets for robbery so security at these places is crazy with guards, waiting rooms and check points. This meeans you have to wait upwards of 20 minutes just to get inside to wait on a counter line for another 10 minutes. The experience is miserable. That sounds awful to me. Here in Canada, legal dispensaries accept debit, cash, and various credit cards; you can order online for in-person, same-day delivery (within a couple hours); you can order online and pickup in person, too. If you go in-person, you might have to wait if their employees are all helping other customers, but otherwise I can be in and out within 5 minutes. > I pay $80-100 for 0.5 oz. That seems obscene, coming from Canada. A decent-quality 28g bag of weed here tops out at 160 CAD, from what I've seen (edit: and I just bought an ounce I am perfectly happy with for 90 CAD). I'm not sure I've seen an ounce for more than that. Half-oz usually range from 60-80 CAD, depending on quality/sales. At this point I greatly prefer the legal dispensaries to any black market weed for quality, convenience, price -- whether MOM or dealers. I think the only place dealers would have an advantage is more freedom to offer a better price to certain clients.

golergka 5y ago
It's wild hearing that in other countries drug dealers still accept cash and meet people in person. Although prices for practically everything are way higher here (10g would cost you about 200$ or more), the convenience of using bitcoin and not having to meet a single soul to make a purchase at any hour of the day still outweighs it for me.
- MisterTea 5y ago
  > not having to meet a single soul Then how do you get your weed? Teleporter?
  - golergka 5y ago
    Deaddrop. You get an address, sometimes a GPS spot, a couple of photos, and retrieve whatever substance you ordered yourself.
    - MisterTea 5y ago
      yeesh. That sounds awful. The reason why I get curb side are: 1. If he doesn't have your number in his phone ahead of time, he wont respond. I had to be recommended by a close friend of his who is in turn good friends with me. He has to trust you and any deviations from basic rules will get you banned (he ghosts you). 2. He doesn't deliver himself, he has 2-4 drivers he pays well ($400/day + all the weed you can smoke) 3. Most people in my neighborhood know how to mind their damn business or smoke too so no one gives a shit.
      - golergka 5y ago
        Well, when a couple of grams of weed can easily get you a 7-10 year prison sentence, you define convenience a bit differently.
kf6nux 5y ago
For additional context to my Canadian friends, it's not actually legal in the US. Various states have banned state and local law enforcement from enforcing the federal law. Since it's still illegal federally, dispensaries can't use banks as their funds could be seized without a trial, and merchant services (credit/debit network access) can't offer services to those businesses as it would be aiding in a felony.

hoten 5y ago

Kind of an aside, but there are banks that reimburse withdrawal fees. Schwab is one.

Redoubts 5y ago
Many credit unions will do this too. (They don’t charge foreign atm fee, and reimburse for the atm’s fee)

xeromal 5y ago

You'd pay cash to a local dealer too so I don't really see the difference there.

detaro 5y ago
Don't they take payment apps? Also if the illegal competition is that much cheaper, not being more convenient is one more point against them.
- xeromal 5y ago
  I doubt most take payment apps. I'm sure most are savvy enough to know their transactions are being monitored.
  - monocasa 5y ago
    In Colorado small time dealers will take payment apps, but anything wholesale is cash or crypto.
  - vmception 5y ago
    Dealers take payment apps. Nobody cares. Dealers and consumers don't care. DA isn't looking for consumers (for now, ideally the clock runs out before a future DA cares). Everyone knows there is a record. The apps don't care, as long as you don't literally say "FOR DRUGS LOLLZ" in the notes section, but apps and actual banks really don't care (about anything) they just want to maintain relationships with other banks and the national government, who care less and less. Try not to be in a circumstance where that kind of data matters to anyone who would respond to someone else's attempts to blackmail or extort you, the less people care the less effective the data is. Almost half of Congress is willing to liberate banks from pretending to care about this and they represent a vast majority of the population, so the flippening is coming.
    - xeromal 5y ago
      Let's hope!

unethical_ban 5y ago

As a Texan who has perused dispensaries in CO, OR and CA, I have never had such an unpleasant experience. In fact, the largest and most professional feeling dispensary was in SoCal. It felt like an apple store. There was no anteroom, and products were displayed in arrayed glass cases and hanging in walls. Several places I have been to have a small waiting area that you must be let to pass, but that is more common in my experience in smaller towns. I can't comment on the prices, since I have never bought bud illegally. But the in-store experiences have been just fine, and I don't have to hang out at a bar and try not to look like a cop to find a stranger selling. Edit, the CA experience was 2-3 years ago, so maybe things have gotten worse or maybe in places where rule of law is less enforced, things have changed.

NoSorryCannot 5y ago

I have noticed that the dispensary experience is very different in CA vs OR. Oregon dispensaries are often small headshop type places whereas every dispensary I've been to in California seems to be a more expensive operation with a bank-like queuing style. The Oregon dispensaries are also just more thick on the ground; can't throw a rock without hitting one. Not so common in CA and they're tucked into shitty office parks much of the time. Not sure why they're so different but I don't think it's the cash-only property that is doing it, since it's the same deal in OR.

schwartzworld 5y ago

> I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. And CA is way ahead of MA in this regard. Dispensaries here are plagued by supply issues and frequently sell poor quality product at a premium price.