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[misko27]

Oh, are you from Jersey? I am so sorry for your loss.

[Dunamisdeos]

I am, and thanks for your sympathy. I'm from the Jersey Shore area in fact. That famous picture of a roller coaster sitting in the Atlantic was just over the bridge from me. But thankfully most of the loss in my area was that of material rather than lives.

[nenjin]

What should be expected, wasn't it the illegality of the of the thing that was driving up prices in the first place, what would having a high demand but a low supply?(at least to the consumer?)

What constricts the supply are the numerous additional costs associated with producing/smuggling marijuana illegally (at all levels of production, transportation, distribution, etc), along with another interesting factor in that marijuana production must compete with the black market rate of profit of other goods (which is far higher than the open market rate of profit, though the money earned is less valuable and there are obviously risks).

But in areas where it is legalized, there are still major legal constrictions that add costs to and limit production, with severe limits on how much can be grown and so on (at least here in Colorado I know that's the case). If it were fully legalized and entered full industrial production, the price would drop like a rock and illegal weed wouldn't even be competitive in price at cost, let alone profitable compared to a comparable black market rate of profit. Though for one more interesting side-point, by making it legal but with major restrictions on legal production, the relaxation and difficulties of enforcement have likely made it much, much cheaper to produce and distribute illegally, so even though prices will continue to decline the illegal profits may currently be higher than ever. Edit: So for example, drug dealers and smugglers may be getting "laid off" as it becomes easier to sell illegal weed openly in places where it's partially legalized, but the cartels themselves might end up earning more than they were before (despite lower prices) as they absorb a larger cut. But this can only last while the prices stay at their current relatively astronomical levels, only possible through the legal restrictions. I.e. "we're killing good local well-paying working class drug dealing jobs, and the cartels are taking the profits!"

On the flip side of the coin, many people I talk to say "why would I buy pot from the store or from Johnny the No-Lifer when I can grow up to X plants in my house?" That's the real dream for most pot heads, is to grow weed in their herb garden like they would tomatoes. That is less of a dream for people living in the inner city, but still. It's not like tobacco or some other processed plant that you're reliant on manufacturers to get. So with decriminalization and legalization, there's a part of the market that will literally stop buying altogether. And the way prices seem to be going....that looks pretty damn appealing to many. They might be replaced by the proportion of new smokers that have no experienced and are not interested in growing it themselves.

Meanwhile, legalisation is really starting to affect marijuana prices in the US. Where in september 2015 growers would still get 4740 dollars on average per kilo of weed, last july prices had dropped to 3587 dollars.

The total value of legally sold weed in the US has reached 6 billion this year.

6 billion dollars that would have otherwise gone to organized crime.

Your statement is factually true but it still kind of irritates me. Not everyone who produces and sells weed is gun-toting Mexican drug lord relying on slave labor to hump their product across the border. Plenty of them are just normal ass people who work a 9 to 5 like everyone else. Organized crime? Technically. Does that really describe a network of 10 to 20 people who help each other out and break no other law other than growing and selling weed to each other? I don't really think so. But that's probably for another thread.

[Dunamisdeos]

Did you just assume all gun owners are in fact Mexican Drug Lords? Also that all Drug Lords must be Mexican?

I'm sorry I'm not serious but I couldn't resist. I do agree with your premise, I don't think a bunch of dudes growing and selling local pot are a serious threat to the fabric of society as is sometimes alleged.

[redwallzyl]

Heard a good interview on NPR this morning. thought I'd share it:
http://the1a.org/shows/2017-08-30/zillionaire-to-other-zillionaires-pay-up

[Lord Shonus]

What should be expected, wasn't it the illegality of the of the thing that was driving up prices in the first place, what would having a high demand but a low supply?(at least to the consumer?)

What constricts the supply are the numerous additional costs associated with producing/smuggling marijuana illegally (at all levels of production, transportation, distribution, etc), along with another interesting factor in that marijuana production must compete with the black market rate of profit of other goods (which is far higher than the open market rate of profit, though the money earned is less valuable and there are obviously risks).

But in areas where it is legalized, there are still major legal constrictions that add costs to and limit production, with severe limits on how much can be grown and so on (at least here in Colorado I know that's the case). If it were fully legalized and entered full industrial production, the price would drop like a rock and illegal weed wouldn't even be competitive in price at cost, let alone profitable compared to a comparable black market rate of profit. Though for one more interesting side-point, by making it legal but with major restrictions on legal production, the relaxation and difficulties of enforcement have likely made it much, much cheaper to produce and distribute illegally, so even though prices will continue to decline the illegal profits may currently be higher than ever. Edit: So for example, drug dealers and smugglers may be getting "laid off" as it becomes easier to sell illegal weed openly in places where it's partially legalized, but the cartels themselves might end up earning more than they were before (despite lower prices) as they absorb a larger cut. But this can only last while the prices stay at their current relatively astronomical levels, only possible through the legal restrictions. I.e. "we're killing good local well-paying working class drug dealing jobs, and the cartels are taking the profits!"

On the flip side of the coin, many people I talk to say "why would I buy pot from the store or from Johnny the No-Lifer when I can grow up to X plants in my house?" That's the real dream for most pot heads, is to grow weed in their herb garden like they would tomatoes. That is less of a dream for people living in the inner city, but still. It's not like tobacco or some other processed plant that you're reliant on manufacturers to get. So with decriminalization and legalization, there's a part of the market that will literally stop buying altogether. And the way prices seem to be going....that looks pretty damn appealing to many. They might be replaced by the proportion of new smokers that have no experienced and are not interested in growing it themselves.

Marijuana makes for a very nice houseplant (eliminating your "inner city" objection), unless the cat takes a liking to it. Meanwhile, tobacco isn't too hard to grow outdoors - an aunt of mine is planning to start growing her own next year.

[smjjames]

Isn't tobacco growing heavily regulated? Mainly because the big tobacco companies don't want their monopolies to be even slightly threatened.

At least I figured it'd be heavily regulated.

[Lord Shonus]

There's no Federal law restricting tobacco cultivation in any way, shape or form. I am aware of no state laws restricting it either, but I am not certain that such does not exist. There are significant regulations on selling tobacco - these are concerned with making sure minors don't get ahold of it and ensuring that Uncle Sam gets his cut (taxes).

[SalmonGod]

Heard a good interview on NPR this morning. thought I'd share it:
http://the1a.org/shows/2017-08-30/zillionaire-to-other-zillionaires-pay-up

Nick Hanauer has been trying to spread this message for at least a couple years.  He had one of the more heavily promoted and popular TED talks on this subject about that long ago.

[Trekkin]

Marijuana makes for a very nice houseplant (eliminating your "inner city" objection), unless the cat takes a liking to it. Meanwhile, tobacco isn't too hard to grow outdoors - an aunt of mine is planning to start growing her own next year.

That is true of some cultivars, but one side effect of cannabis having been illegal is considerable selective breeding for tetrahydrocannabinol content, often at the expense of tolerance to adverse conditions. The cannabis that makes a good houseplant is not the cannabis that needs a totally light-tight room and constant nutrient drips, and I think a lot of the consumers of cannabis who would like to grow their own will come back sooner or later to the producers for whom the economies of scale favor the kind of capital outlay required to set up an aeroponics system for growing the most temperamental plants and forcing as much into them as possible. There's also the issue of other chemical constituents affecting the smell/taste; really first-rate nutrient solutions to get around this are expensive and perishable enough to make them unappealing to the individual user.

[martinuzz]

Marijuana isn't a good house plant. First of all, it's a single year plant, it will die after flowering.
Now you can prevent it from flowering and stretch it's life that way, but then you are going to have to make sure it has 18 hours of bright light every day. Turn off the lights too soon? It will start to flower, and head towards it's death.

The hydroponics thing isn't a problem. The high THC plant is just as house-rearable without hydroponics as a wild sativa or indica. Just don't expect it to grow fat buds without the hydro.
That being said, the plant is vulnerable to certain pests and fungi. So yeah, hard to keep as a houseplant regardless of high tech THC or not.
If the climate allows it, weed survives easier outdoors than indoors (winds provide good ventilation which keeps the fungi and mites at bay)

[Sheb]

He, I grown it a couple time, it's not hard. Sure, you can't expect the level of fat bud of an hydro setting, but those things are real.

[Antioch]

hmmmmm

Amusing, but the hurricane has killed something like two dozen people, so maybe in poor taste? Not to presume but we do have people from Texas here.

Twas' a sore subject in Jersey for some time after Sandy.

mismanagement of a country costs a lot more than 2 dozen lives though.

[martinuzz]

So a 2014 study showed that in a worst case scenario, 1.1 million people could get respiratory and other problems from the chemical plant going up in fire.
However, the director of the plant says it is unlikely that this will happen, because people have been evacuated.

I dunno man. My newspaper says about 32000 people have been evacuated. 32000 is an insignificant small number on 1.1 million possilby affected, so a pretty
bad argument to use.

[Bralbaard]

Marijuana isn't a good house plant. First of all, it's a single year plant, it will die after flowering.
Now you can prevent it from flowering and stretch it's life that way, but then you are going to have to make sure it has 18 hours of bright light every day. Turn off the lights too soon? It will start to flower, and head towards it's death.

That, and you can smell it from a mile away. Some people may enjoy that though. I guess that when you grow them yourselves you have the advantage of knowing wich pesticides were used, if any. As Martinuzz said the plant is quite vulnerable to insects and fungi, and since they have been grown illegally, the pesticide use has not been tested for safety regarding residues and toxicity.

Few agricultural crops make good house plants. I've grown potatoes in the windowsill, which was a horrible idea, it grew to about 2 meters in height. Ginger is nice though.
But I'm getting off topic...