5 ms·

That's interesting. Do people seek out the legal weed and pay the premium? Or is it suffering for lack of demand compared to black market weed. I don't live in

That's interesting. Do people seek out the legal weed and pay the premium? Or is it suffering for lack of demand compared to black market weed. I don't live in WA (or smoke pot), but if I did, I probably would pay the premium just to keep it all above board & guarantee quality.

joshkpeterson 12y ago
I think most people just buy black market stuff so far. But at least you can't get arrested for possession ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
aaronbrethorst 12y ago
The one pot shop located in a residential neighborhood in Seattle is, apparently, doing about $14,000 of business per day: http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/10/central-seattles-only-pot-store-uncle-ikes-sold-13736-of-marijuana-per-day-in-first-week/ http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/10/central-seattles-o... So, there's definitely demand. I don't buy pot, and only very rarely smoke, but if I did, I'd definitely buy from a licensed shop despite the price increase. Guarantees about quality, funneling tax revenue back to the state, and ensuring that I'm not funding narcoterrorism would totally be worth it to me: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/06/drug_cartels_in_oregon_violenc.html http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2...
- musername 12y ago
  If you smoked weed, you probably wouldn't. If you did before, you would be so used to the black market, you'd stick with it, because. Weed is already expensive, so you are in luck if you could afford the shop prices on a regular basis, which we are talking about at 14k/day. Also, the negative side-effects are ignorance, for lack of a better word, so your reasons likely wouldn't even come up. For (most of) the occasional toker, it's just as much about convenience, while the moral high ground stance is just a pretense, as is much of the stoner's cultural background.
  - HelloMcFly 12y ago
    Enough people have already demonstrated willingness to pay the higher price that I'm not sure I believe your argument. And at any rate, legalization is likely to grow the population of smokers, and that growth will likely be among those most interested in legal acquisition. In WA, prices will come down as supply increases, so it's not a static environment anyway.
  - ddingus 12y ago
    That really needs to be qualified. If a person smokes very regularly, yes. Your argument has merit, particularly among people with modest to low financial means. However, people with average and above financial means, who also really are recreational users are likely to buy. (weekend, social, specific event users) They know doing so contributes to the acceptance and normalization of the activity, and that's worth a lot to everyone involved, save the black market dealers.
    - musername 12y ago
      >They know doing so contributes to the acceptance and normalization of the activity, and that's worth a lot to everyone involved, save the black market dealers. That's the hypocracy. It's not their behaviour that leads to acceptance, it's the state deciding what's acceptable or not . That is to incure tax and decrease spending, for all I care, and maybe a twisted social experiment of sorts, but not in first line for the well being of the people. Supporting that with the rhetorical finger pointing at The Terrorist is so utterly hypocritical, I'm at loss of words. Surely, the argument is not immoral, but it's completely missing the point. Us against The Terrorist is too simple a frame of mind, it's agrevating, but not to a calmed down stoner of course.
      - ddingus 12y ago
        And "the State" decides based on people wanting the activity normalized just as it does economic reasons. Those "calmed down" stoners may well be politically active. In the past, they were. The classic stereotype paints the stoner as living on the couch, munching, doing nothing. Lots of those out there for sure. However, there are a lot of people who use lightly, or for creative reasons. Those people tend to be politically active. They also generally abhor bull shit. Right now, I'm not sure our system can operate without some degree of hypocrisy. But, it is the system we have. There isn't going to be another one, so we've got to work with and sometimes hack the one we've got. Maybe it can be made better.
kyllo 12y ago
I hear the legal recreational weed is selling out, that's part of the reason why only two stores are open, the supply is so limited. You can drive by and see a line out the door. The recreational weed is a separate supply, they had to grow it from seed and could not fence medicinal or illicit weed. Because that supply doesn't come close to meeting the demand, most people either have to see a doctor and get their green card, or keep buying on the black market.

joshkpeterson 12y ago

I think most people just buy black market stuff so far. But at least you can't get arrested for possession ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

aaronbrethorst 12y ago

The one pot shop located in a residential neighborhood in Seattle is, apparently, doing about $14,000 of business per day: http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/10/central-seattles-only-pot-store-uncle-ikes-sold-13736-of-marijuana-per-day-in-first-week/ http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/10/central-seattles-o... So, there's definitely demand. I don't buy pot, and only very rarely smoke, but if I did, I'd definitely buy from a licensed shop despite the price increase. Guarantees about quality, funneling tax revenue back to the state, and ensuring that I'm not funding narcoterrorism would totally be worth it to me: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/06/drug_cartels_in_oregon_violenc.html http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2...

musername 12y ago
If you smoked weed, you probably wouldn't. If you did before, you would be so used to the black market, you'd stick with it, because. Weed is already expensive, so you are in luck if you could afford the shop prices on a regular basis, which we are talking about at 14k/day. Also, the negative side-effects are ignorance, for lack of a better word, so your reasons likely wouldn't even come up. For (most of) the occasional toker, it's just as much about convenience, while the moral high ground stance is just a pretense, as is much of the stoner's cultural background.
- HelloMcFly 12y ago
  Enough people have already demonstrated willingness to pay the higher price that I'm not sure I believe your argument. And at any rate, legalization is likely to grow the population of smokers, and that growth will likely be among those most interested in legal acquisition. In WA, prices will come down as supply increases, so it's not a static environment anyway.
- ddingus 12y ago
  That really needs to be qualified. If a person smokes very regularly, yes. Your argument has merit, particularly among people with modest to low financial means. However, people with average and above financial means, who also really are recreational users are likely to buy. (weekend, social, specific event users) They know doing so contributes to the acceptance and normalization of the activity, and that's worth a lot to everyone involved, save the black market dealers.
  - musername 12y ago
    >They know doing so contributes to the acceptance and normalization of the activity, and that's worth a lot to everyone involved, save the black market dealers. That's the hypocracy. It's not their behaviour that leads to acceptance, it's the state deciding what's acceptable or not . That is to incure tax and decrease spending, for all I care, and maybe a twisted social experiment of sorts, but not in first line for the well being of the people. Supporting that with the rhetorical finger pointing at The Terrorist is so utterly hypocritical, I'm at loss of words. Surely, the argument is not immoral, but it's completely missing the point. Us against The Terrorist is too simple a frame of mind, it's agrevating, but not to a calmed down stoner of course.
    - ddingus 12y ago
      And "the State" decides based on people wanting the activity normalized just as it does economic reasons. Those "calmed down" stoners may well be politically active. In the past, they were. The classic stereotype paints the stoner as living on the couch, munching, doing nothing. Lots of those out there for sure. However, there are a lot of people who use lightly, or for creative reasons. Those people tend to be politically active. They also generally abhor bull shit. Right now, I'm not sure our system can operate without some degree of hypocrisy. But, it is the system we have. There isn't going to be another one, so we've got to work with and sometimes hack the one we've got. Maybe it can be made better.

kyllo 12y ago

I hear the legal recreational weed is selling out, that's part of the reason why only two stores are open, the supply is so limited. You can drive by and see a line out the door. The recreational weed is a separate supply, they had to grow it from seed and could not fence medicinal or illicit weed. Because that supply doesn't come close to meeting the demand, most people either have to see a doctor and get their green card, or keep buying on the black market.