Western Slope, Colorado - A rant

[Methistopheles Rex]

Hi,

I've been in Colorado for the first time in ten years, and I wanted to write an open letter to the folks of this state who participate in the Medical Marijuana industry in the Grand Valley here. Some of what I have to say probably reflects on the people in Cali and other states as well, but I'm mostly just sick and tired of bad people using Medical Marijuana as a vehicle for profiteering and misrepresenting the truth.

Firstly - I don't understand medical cannabis pricing. I believe that I could grow high quality strains and sell them for $10 a gram to patients and make a decent living at it. I was absolutely shocked that the pricing schema adopted by the MMJ community so closely mirrors regional average street values. I understand the concepts of overhead and security, quality control etc, but I promise you that at $4480 per pound of top shelf cannabis I can absolutely make enough money in a non-profit scenario to pay overhead and a salary - and probably donate a huge chunk of change to cancer charities and cannabis defense funds. I'm an idealist, and maybe I don't completely appreciate the overhead costs on a month to month basis, but I think I could make a go of it.

Secondly - I'm an idealist - I think that if you want to be in the medical cannabis business, you either need to be a well educated true believer, or you need to have one run your business. When your mom is working the night shift at your dispensary and doesn't have a fucking clue what she's looking at, or you're the owner and know the names of perhaps 10 strains, and can't tell me a fucking thing about what they are other than a very generic canned response about sativa v indica - you shouldn't be in this business. You should be beaten about the face and neck with a crowbar made out of my rage and anxiety because you sell garbage medicine and call it good, but you shouldn't be profiting from the chronic.

Thirdly - If you sell wet medicine that smells like hay, you should be lit on fire. I think we all agree that getting 3.5 grams of wet, beautiful cannabis kind of feels like getting 2 grams of properly cured pot.

Finally - the quality of strains here in this area compared with the quality and availability in california shows disparity - strains in cali going for 45-50 1/8th are considered top echelon here by most of the shops and in their $65 section. This is kinda bullshit. Also strain selection has a bunch of shitty crossbreeds with unclear genetics - there's no way of telling what is what, and it's fucking annoying.

I'm not publicly outing dispensaries (God's Gift in Clifton, CO tried to sell me wet meds, The Grape Ape x Black Afghan I did buy looked and smelled decent, was very dense, but actually tasted like rancid bat shit and was barely efficacious. I believe it was not as advertised.), or maybe I am.

I used to be against regulation in this state when I didn't live here. Now I think it's necessary to protect unwary consumers. To many patients, pot is pot, and the variety is just that - a bit of fun and flavor. To some people, sativa days with indica nights is all they need to know. I'm not that guy.

I want to see regulation. I hate the idea that the MMJ community isn't self policing. I hate the idea that even the good ones among us are profiteers at heart, and I hate that bad people can get into the MMJ business and turn it into something ugly. I hate that people in this community, in particular, have made me wish for more government in my cannabis.

I want to see commercialization too, but only because I think that the small grower can be protected from corporate farms and their ability to saturate markets by creating functional, real co-ops - like people in farming communities do to keep costs lower and supply lines open. co-op's could get cheaper lighting and nutrients by buying in larger quantities than a simple store. There are so many ways that everyone can play fair and a bunch of non-violent people can get out of state prison.

I believe that cannabis should be something that is available to everyone who chooses to consume it. I believe that medical cannabis has split the lobby for cannabis legalization, and I believe that assholes profiteering on the backs of the movement will probably damage it greatly, especially since the republican party will likely be in power again in 3 years.

Suck my balls Western Slope, Colorado. I love you.

[thedankman]

that sucks check out weedmaps to see where u can go. after i looked at weedmaps the first place i decided to go to from there was super good. the best quality ive seen at and 50 an eighth caps. and i happen to know that lbs are going for atleast 1000 less down here in the city and its pissing off vendors. i would be pissed off too if there were buying it for that cheap then selling for 50-65 an 8th. hopefully u can find a quality shop or caregiver up there. u cant forget about the private caregivers.

[Methistopheles Rex]

I'm pretty much getting my own shit together, just takes time, so setting up a caregiver arrangement isn't that good. Not to mention I'm probably leaving CO again in a month or two. I checked out weedmaps, I think that here at least the problem is pervasive. So far the quality has generally not been equal to what I can grow at home, I expected much greater expertise from the dispensaries - even those that are well marketed fall short when I actually get a chance to look at the meds.

It's really disappointing.

Rex

[northern_light]

Quality being as you describe it is definitely disappointing. Being pricey to boot is an added kick in the balls.

But in regards to pricing, if it wasn't priced appropriately then dispensaries/collectives would be shutting down en masse when the opposite appears to be the reality. Overhead is a variable and one man's cost of living is another man's vacation money. It's relative so consumers need to be selective in who they support with their dollars and cents.

Unfortunately, what happens more often is when presented with some limiting factor people rationalize it away and continue on.

You mention your in favor of commercialization in the same sentence that you speak highly of collectives/co-ops of farmers to share the burden of the costs of doing business and providing avenues for distribution... those two sentiments run contrary to one another, no? On paper it certainly sounds good but more than likely commercialization will drive prices down so many will not see the need to provide for themselves.

How many people grow their own tobacco or brew their own beers? Regulation, both from government and the industries themselves, albeit reluctantly at times by both the former & latter, made it so that buying those products became as viable and cheap as doing it yourself without the added hassle of actually doing it. With cannabis it is likely that at first there wouldn't be much drop off in cultivation on a personal level if commercialization took off as most of us today growing our own would continue.

But within a generation or two, after young people have been able to grow up buying packs of Sour Diesel or some other, that they likely won't even think about doing it themselves except for the rare exceptions that'll prove the rule. It's that aspect of legalization/commercialization I really have no care for. I'm more a fan of decriminalization but living in a non-med state my perspective is a little skewed in that regard.

Good to hear you're aims being what they are, best of luck in the endeavor and hopefully more people with similar attitudes will be able to provide for those in need.

[Methistopheles Rex]

I think that co-operative farming with a tight community of like minded growers can wield just as much leverage on market forces as massive corporate interests. I'm not just talking about co-operative farming at the supply chain level. I'm talking about the IGA of weed + lobbyists

On the note of pricing, you're correct - but I think that the pricing is geared more towards what the market will bear rather than what is a fair and reasonable price for providing what is ostensibly a compassionate service that reduces the dependency on pharmaceuticals. If people want to sling dope because they're drug dealers, I understand lying, price gouging, profiteering, and being a douchebag.

When people are ostensibly supposed to be helping people with pain and other conditions et al, then their motivations should be somewhat more humanitarian and honest.

More shops will open until the market is over-saturated, and hopefully the cream will rise to the top while the others fall to the wayside.

[Organica]

Ah, Rex darling, I knew there was a face kicking thread coming. Get back to the kitchen where you belong.

In point of fact, commercialization and coop agriculture only run at cross purposes when commercial growers become predatory assholes like Monsanto (huge company that produces genetically modified corn, soy, general evil) and try to specifically eliminate small growers or sue them for using their proprietary company genetics.

I don't think this will happen with pot. For one thing, the taste and smell differences of genetically modified soy beans are subtle, and can easily be masked by sauces and seasonings. The difference between my organic bud grown with love and chicken compost and some 24-pack joint you could pick up at the corner bodega are going to be huge substantial differences. I think the market will bear it out easily. It should be more comparable to the beer market than the tobacco market, although the most optimistic of us will hope that it will more closely resemble the wine market.

Countries or regions with a fine history of producing a superior product, like France for Cabernets or Germany for sweet white dessert wines, are still in command of major market share on the international market which is distributed among several different vineyards, many of whom are still family owned and operated. Unlike with tobacco, the smell and taste of the grape depends largely on the growing conditions. A vineyard that gets too large loses the ability to micromanage their crop, and ends up either having to sell their lower quality product for less, or scaling back their operation to manageable size.

[Organica]

I think there is a good chance that the prices right now are being tolerated because of the social 'vice tax' - where you are willing to drive farther or pay more or tolerate lower quality because you are doing something elicit. A lot of people feel like they are getting away with something when they can openly exchange money for weed. I personally think it should be legalized across the board and taxed, but that's just my opinion. (An opinion shared by anyone who isn't a total ass-clown)

In Colorado at least, it's still one of those 'you don't argue with your dealer' situations where people don't feel like they can shop around. This is strange to me because the pot that Rex has been getting from dispensaries has been so hit-and-miss, but the pot I have found in Colorado was always really excellent. This makes me think that he's right that people are going in solely for profit, not for love of the plant or the patient. If the dispensaries are being run by miracle gro using jackasses, somebody should intervene. If you eliminate the 'vice tax' factor, the open market takes care of overpriced inferior product by putting it into competition with good product at a fair price. Unfortunately, there's probably a bunch of really good growers out there that are waiting to see if the wind changes politically before they put their names and addresses on a bunch of paperwork. I know I wouldn't want to be completely public with a grow while it's still a federal crime, but then I'm totally paranoid.

Long story short, open competition should eliminate the need for quality regulation and commercial interests shouldn't be a threat to the small boutique grower. It should be a simple matter of paying for quality and expecting to get what you pay for. More government control is the reason why there are absolutely no small automotive manufacturers and no small pharmaceutical companies. Do we really want to have a government run standards department making us send in our crop for chemical analysis before we can sell it? Personally, I would rather just have everything straight up legal and be able to have brand recognition for the breed and the grower so the people who put in the work can have the rep and profits they deserve.

And did you seriously tag this with 'your mom'?

OG <3 Rex

Now get back to the kitchen.

[Methistopheles Rex]

I believe that the standard to be applied should require quality controls. I just want these asshats to be regulated because they would go out of business in about a week.

[beachdude]

I was thinking the same on the tags

I would find a caregiver in your situation, one will be glad to help I'm sure. With a storefront I would imagine prices to be high as the sky, and the quality low like every other business.