Recreational marijuana and registered marijuana grows are legal in California. Dicus, however, cited the marijuana black market as a cause of violence.
“The plague is the black market of marijuana and certainly cartel activity, and a number of victims are out there,” he said.
I live in California. I have gummies and a vape that I bought at corner stores. How is this still a thing? I’m genuinely curious. Why are people still dying over pot if I can buy it legally?
I can’t speak for California but in many states in the US medical and recreational weed is expensive.
There is still a black market for it because the black market is cheaper. For example in MA you can either buy it at a dispensary for $60 an 1/8th or go to the black market for half the price.
Not everyone who consumes weed wants to be registered or pay through the nose if they can find a dealer on the black market that is considerably cheaper and anonymous.
The black market will never go away unless they can make recreational access cheaper than what it costs to truck it into the US from Mexico. I don’t ever see that happening.
It’s common for dispensaries to sell an 1/8th for ~$15-25, at least in northern California. Just checked a couple local places and see many options for half ounces around $40.
I doubt many people care about anonymity here either. It’s all cash transactions, and you just get carded like buying booze - no real registration, except for like rewards points/loyalty programs lol
Plus, a new law just went into effect here that supposedly protects employees from being asked about/discriminated against for their cannabis use, granted there are exceptions for some construction jobs and jobs requiring federal clearances. (AB 2188, for anyone interested)
The legal market is saturated in California. I would guess most of the black market is exporting out of state where it can be sold for more. But I could definitely be wrong! I agree that it’s unlikely to disappear until it’s unprofitable.
I’d make a bet that there is plenty of people who care, enough to support a black market.
There are plenty of people that don’t have an ID or aren’t old enough to go to a dispensary.
Even in California, lots of illegal pot farms selling for cheaper than legal stores. Less taxes, less Q/C, less overhead etc. dont even need to pay over the border shipping.
I keep hearing how other states outside of CO are getting bent over on weed prices while I pay 60 for an ounce of decent stuff.
This is true. But keep in mind that when things started in CO prices were also really expensive.
Over time as more and more dispensaries open there will be more supply which will shift things to be cheaper. Hopefully.
Michigan is really cheap, too. I’ve heard that we get people coming from Illinois (also a legal state) because it’s cheaper here.