Selling and Purchasing Marijuana?

[jonnyd]

I thought this may be the appropriate section to post this question as I am sure it will become political. Here in Sonoma County last week the Board of Supervisors apologized to the illegal sellers of Marijuana blaming themselves for the lack of applications to become legal marijuana dispensaries.

It seems that Sonoma County has had very few applications even though the County has been promoting the application process. My guess is that the sellers/dealers have been and continue to be happy with the fact they they are not regulated or taxed on their business and profits.

My question to those that partake and maybe sell marijuana is this. Has the legalization of Marijuana in the state of California changed how you purchase or sell the product? Do you believe that the state should be receiving tax revenue from the sales and if not should they finally come down hard on the dealers not complying with the new laws?

 

[530RL]

We have been approached by a lot of those who have gotten into the business for capital and in all cases we have declined. The reasons are pretty simple.

1) A lot of money is going to be made off of this but it is still illegal under federal law.

2) It remains primarily a cash business for now which involves theft, shrinkage and security risks.

3) Under federal law, all revenue must be reported and because it is an illegal activity there are no "legal" or "legitimate" expenses against that revenue to determine profit. In other words revenue is profit.

4) If the federal government ever goes the way of curtailing it as opposed to allowing it, they will go after the largest and richest capital providers to make an example as opposed to small cultivators.

With respect to your direct questions who knows buy my opinion is;

Our experience is the longer the stuff is legal in a state; i) the higher the quality of the product becomes, ii) the lower the cost of the product becomes to the consumer due to intense competition, iii) the more available the product becomes as more people can be more open about their businesses and iv) the greater the likelihood of eventually, when it becomes legalized on the federal level, there will be a large rush to combine larger growers into national high quality production, distribution and retail sales.

With respect to your question about the states coming down on dealers not complying assuming the feds continue to ignore the issue, I suspect that those guys are really fucked either via the state pursuing them eventually for the revenue or the more efficient and organized growers selling higher quality product at a lower cost such that those non-compliant dealers have a hard time making the living they used to make?

 

[Classic Daycruiser]

If they are dealing to kids, the state should have zero tolerance. If they are not registered to sell, they should be prosecuted. If they are growing for personal use, and sharing it with friends and family, and do not expose our kids to it, I don't care.

 

[Hullbilly]

I’ll sell you some quality kush!

 

[was thatguy]

Hmm...Deb just got this for free.

 

[rrrr]

530's assertions about legal growers cornering the market aren't working so well in Colorado. I've seen articles that estimate at least 50% of the pot sold in Colorado is illegally grown.

This article details how one illegal Colorado grower was making so much money he had trouble carrying it from one place to another.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/colorados-war-on-black-market-weed

 

[Hullbilly]

530's assertions about legal growers cornering the market aren't working so well in Colorado. I've seen articles that estimate at least 50% of the pot sold in Colorado is illegally grown.

This article details how one illegal Colorado grower was making so much money he had trouble carrying it from one place to another.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/colorados-war-on-black-market-weed

This has been my argument the entire time to the “legal” weed will generate mad revenue, get illegal weed off the streets blah blah blah....Fact of the matter is that those in the weed business on both sides of the border will never ever remove their claws from the trade, too much lost revenue. And why would a consumer go to a dispensary and pay much more thanks to greed and taxes when they can score for half price from their local supplier....but I digress

 

[Hullbilly]

View attachment 626243 Hmm...Deb just got this for free.

Better watch out I bet the feds have your house surrounded right now! Just ask turdy he’ll tell ya

 

[was thatguy]

Better watch out I bet the feds have your house surrounded right now! Just ask turdy he’ll tell ya

Yeah. Probably.
I’m sitting outside here at 6:00AM.
No helicopters in sight...

 

[Hullbilly]

Yeah. Probably.
I’m sitting outside here at 6:00AM.
No helicopters in sight...

#fakenews....the oracle can’t be wrong! 3....2......1......

 

[was thatguy]

#fakenews....the oracle can’t be wrong! 3....2......1......

The oracal is not wrong.
He also is not present in the reality of things it seems.
The Feds are not going to arrest cancer patients, or raid their homes, or fuck with joe citizen, regardless that pot is in fact a schedule 1 drug.
(Which is insane in my book)
The Feds ARE going to fuck with CA on issues that matter...like offering sanctuary to millions of criminals in defiance of federal law and at the expense of United States citizens.
They ARE going to do something about local agencies actively hindering (as a matter of policy) federal operations concerning rounding up illegals and criminals.

Are they selectively deciding which federal laws to prioritize? Yes.
Are they ignoring one “crime” to pursue other crimes? Yes.
This is the basis for his “debate”...
To what end does he apply this argument?
Apparently for the sole purpose of illustrating the obvious...that this action is logically “inconsistent”.
So what? Every agency has priorities.
The FBI discarded most drug and organized crime pursuits to focus on terrorists in the past, as an example.
Politics does dictate a lot of these priorities.
Obama’s priority was to use his DOJ to enforce the bypassing of federal laws. Sending Holder out to sue States that did not comply with his liberal open door policies.
Today the shoe is on the other foot.
Trump is sending the Feds in to reverse these actions and CA seems unable to grasp that they, as a State in this Union, are subject to Federal law like every other State...and it’s up to the Feds to decide which laws take priority for now.

It’s hard to grasp what 530 is arguing for or against. It’s a moving target, undoubtedly honed by years of legal arbitration’s in a courtroom setting.
Is he saying that if the Feds choose to ignore enforcing one law they have to ignore all laws?
Is he saying that we, as citizens, can not support enforcement of any law if we don’t support enforcement of all laws?
I disagree with a lot of laws, well, some laws anyway. Some State laws here in CA are not consistent with other States laws, and not consistent with what I consider my Constitutional rights... but my only choice is to obey or move or be a State defined criminal. The laws I choose to ignore affect nobody. They aren’t a “big deal”, and cost nobody anything.
The Fed laws that CA is in contempt of cost big time. They cost money, lives, jobs, and are a drain on every aspect of the States well being.
There is no arguing point where the State benefits from illegals.

How the pot laws will end up is anybodies guess. But for now the feds are not prioritizing it in any State.

 

[Taboma]

I simply took 530's logic as --- If you support Trump or Sessions going after illegals, in Ca or elsewhere as enthusiastically more than you would them enforcing the Federal weed laws, we're hypocrites. Which in this particular case (And probably a few others) I confessed to being. He's right, so what ? I didn't realize that there was some doctrine that stated if I believed in one thing a person supported, I had to believe in everything that person supported. If that were the case, I'd believe in no one at all

 

[was thatguy]

I simply took 530's logic as --- If you support Trump or Sessions going after illegals, in Ca or elsewhere as enthusiastically more than you would them enforcing the Federal weed laws, we're hypocrites. Which in this particular case (And probably a few others) I confessed to being. He's right, so what ? I didn't realize that there was some doctrine that stated if I believed in one thing a person supported, I had to believe in everything that person supported. If that were the case, I'd believe in no one at all

Exactly.
I’ve actually stated repeatedly that I agree with <50% of what Trump says and does...yet I’ve already been called a “Trumpkin” this very morning.

 

[Hullbilly]

Exactly.
I’ve actually stated repeatedly that I agree with <50% of what Trump says and does...yet I’ve already been called a “Trumpkin” this very morning.

Better to be a Trumpkin then Flakein Little

 

[Racey]

We have been approached by a lot of those who have gotten into the business for capital and in all cases we have declined. The reasons are pretty simple.

1) A lot of money is going to be made off of this but it is still illegal under federal law.

2) It remains primarily a cash business for now which involves theft, shrinkage and security risks.

3) Under federal law, all revenue must be reported and because it is an illegal activity there are no "legal" or "legitimate" expenses against that revenue to determine profit. In other words revenue is profit.

4) If the federal government ever goes the way of curtailing it as opposed to allowing it, they will go after the largest and richest capital providers to make an example as opposed to small cultivators.

With respect to your direct questions who knows buy my opinion is;

Our experience is the longer the stuff is legal in a state; i) the higher the quality of the product becomes, ii) the lower the cost of the product becomes to the consumer due to intense competition, iii) the more available the product becomes as more people can be more open about their businesses and iv) the greater the likelihood of eventually, when it becomes legalized on the federal level, there will be a large rush to combine larger growers into national high quality production, distribution and retail sales.

With respect to your question about the states coming down on dealers not complying assuming the feds continue to ignore the issue, I suspect that those guys are really fucked either via the state pursuing them eventually for the revenue or the more efficient and organized growers selling higher quality product at a lower cost such that those non-compliant dealers have a hard time making the living they used to make?

Well stated.

 

[thetub]

wont the big cigarette companies or pharma just take it over if its really legalized?

they will just lobby and take over?

 

[Racey]

wont the big cigarette companies or pharma just take it over if its really legalized?

they will just lobby and take over?

They won't even have to lobby, they'll just open up the check books once the federal descheduling happens.

 

[Classic Daycruiser]

View attachment 626243 Hmm...Deb just got this for free.

I hope she's not smoking. Edibles or vaping are much healthier.

 

[rrrr]

This has been my argument the entire time to the “legal” weed will generate mad revenue, get illegal weed off the streets blah blah blah....Fact of the matter is that those in the weed business on both sides of the border will never ever remove their claws from the trade, too much lost revenue. And why would a consumer go to a dispensary and pay much more thanks to greed and taxes when they can score for half price from their local supplier....but I digress

I've argued with people that claim legal weed will kill the cartels for years. It's quite stupid to think legalization is going to make them roll up and quit.

The cartels make billions in the pot trade. They can undercut the price of legal weed without breaking a sweat.

 

[Hullbilly]

I've argued with people that claim legal weed will kill the cartels for years. It's quite stupid to think legalization is going to make them roll up and quit.

The cartels make billions in the pot trade. They can undercut the price of legal weed without breaking a sweat.

Tru’dat and when the scales start tipping away from them, they have way’s of cutting of the limbs of competitors. The cartels ain’t no mom&pop moonshine operation.

 

[Sandlord]

I hope she's not smoking. Edibles or vaping are much healthier.

I like the edibles. sometimes the "pain relief" lasts 6 hours or more.

 

[500bbc]

The oracal is not wrong.
He also is not present in the reality of things it seems.
The Feds are not going to arrest cancer patients, or raid their homes, or fuck with joe citizen, regardless that pot is in fact a schedule 1 drug.
(Which is insane in my book)
The Feds ARE going to fuck with CA on issues that matter...like offering sanctuary to millions of criminals in defiance of federal law and at the expense of United States citizens.
They ARE going to do something about local agencies actively hindering (as a matter of policy) federal operations concerning rounding up illegals and criminals.

Are they selectively deciding which federal laws to prioritize? Yes.
Are they ignoring one “crime” to pursue other crimes? Yes.
This is the basis for his “debate”...
To what end does he apply this argument?
Apparently for the sole purpose of illustrating the obvious...that this action is logically “inconsistent”.
So what? Every agency has priorities.
The FBI discarded most drug and organized crime pursuits to focus on terrorists in the past, as an example.
Politics does dictate a lot of these priorities.
Obama’s priority was to use his DOJ to enforce the bypassing of federal laws. Sending Holder out to sue States that did not comply with his liberal open door policies.
Today the shoe is on the other foot.
Trump is sending the Feds in to reverse these actions and CA seems unable to grasp that they, as a State in this Union, are subject to Federal law like every other State...and it’s up to the Feds to decide which laws take priority for now.

It’s hard to grasp what 530 is arguing for or against. It’s a moving target, undoubtedly honed by years of legal arbitration’s in a courtroom setting.
Is he saying that if the Feds choose to ignore enforcing one law they have to ignore all laws?
Is he saying that we, as citizens, can not support enforcement of any law if we don’t support enforcement of all laws?
I disagree with a lot of laws, well, some laws anyway. Some State laws here in CA are not consistent with other States laws, and not consistent with what I consider my Constitutional rights... but my only choice is to obey or move or be a State defined criminal. The laws I choose to ignore affect nobody. They aren’t a “big deal”, and cost nobody anything.
The Fed laws that CA is in contempt of cost big time. They cost money, lives, jobs, and are a drain on every aspect of the States well being.
There is no arguing point where the State benefits from illegals.

How the pot laws will end up is anybodies guess. But for now the feds are not prioritizing it in any State.

 

[was thatguy]

View attachment 626489

Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip ?

To get to the same side ...

 

[Old Texan]

I've argued with people that claim legal weed will kill the cartels for years. It's quite stupid to think legalization is going to make them roll up and quit.

The cartels make billions in the pot trade. They can undercut the price of legal weed without breaking a sweat.

That's why the Feds won't officially legalize it......Too much money being made in the black market sales and that money finds many pockets.

 

[SNiC Jet]

There is no arguing point where the State benefits from illegals.

Yeah...No Argument....they've got that one "point" covered

 

[Gelcoater]

I've argued with people that claim legal weed will kill the cartels for years. It's quite stupid to think legalization is going to make them roll up and quit.

The cartels make billions in the pot trade. They can undercut the price of legal weed without breaking a sweat.

Where do they sell it?
It isnt around here.
I dint even know where to score lousy import moldy weed formed into a brick
But I know several dudes growing high quality shiznit.
Who and why would anyone buy that shit?

 

[rrrr]

It's not moldy brick weed anymore. Mexican pot growers supply more weed to the US than any other country, and the cartels compete on quality as well as price.

The Mexican cartels smuggled an estimated 22 tons of pot into the US in 2014.

Someone is buying it. They aren't paying $40 per gram boutique prices like your friends, but there are a lot of them.

 

[Hullbilly]

Where do they sell it?
It isnt around here.
I dint even know where to score lousy import moldy weed formed into a brick
But I know several dudes growing high quality shiznit.
Who and why would anyone buy that shit?

Very little of the weed coming up is last seasons brick pack anymore. If yore still getting that you need a new supplier, tell him to clean that shit out from under his bed in mom’s basement. Plenty of high quality is coming up across the border, but a huge chunk in grown here is the US by cartel growers.