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SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

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Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#231

Post by jerrysievert »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #230

As someone who doesn't use cannabis, can someone explain to me why there continues to be an underground? Saw an article in news a couple weeks ago explaining that there are problems in Oregon again with unlicensed producers in wilderness areas again. One of the primary reasons I was in favor of legalization was that I didn't like the prospects of running into an illegal grow operation when I'm out enjoying Mother Nat…

not every county in Oregon has legal ways to purchase, some counties want the tax revenue but don't want people to be able to get it.

taxation across every aspect of growing, processing, and sale adds a lot.

not all dispensaries are the same, some are swank, but more expensive, some are captive markets.

some people don't want to be tracked in any way.

so there are reasons some people stick with black market, but like piracy, making legal purchases and consumption easier helps to ease it.

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#232

Post by poulsbohemian »

jerrysievert wrote: post #231
poulsbohemian wrote: post #230

As someone who doesn't use cannabis, can someone explain to me why there continues to be an underground? Saw an article in news a couple weeks ago explaining that there are problems in Oregon again with unlicensed producers in wilderness areas again. One of the primary reasons I was in favor of legalization was that I didn't like the prospects of running into an illegal grow operation when I'm out enjoying Mother Nat…

not every county in Oregon has legal ways to purchase, some counties want the tax revenue but don't want people to be able to get it. taxation across every aspect of growing, processing, and sale adds a lot. not all dispensaries are the same, some are swank, but more expensive, some are captive markets. some people don't want to be tracked in any way. so there are reasons some people stick with black market, but like…

This is good feedback... I knew there were places like Pendleton and the southeastern corner of the state that were still be sticks in the mud, but didn't really think in terms of that being a reason for a black market to continue to thrive (given access in so many places in WA, OR, CA in general)

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#233

Post by schwartzworld »

MisterTea wrote: post #149
bryans wrote: post #24

In most recreational states, cannabis is taxed heavily at every step in the supply chain, so the highest quality still ends up being very expensive -- upward of $400/oz. The black market has the exact same quality at the wholesale price, typically 40-60% less than retail, with the added bonus of not having the government involved. For a daily or heavy smoker, a ~50% discount is a massive amount of money.

> For a daily or heavy smoker, a ~50% discount is a massive amount of money. Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The places are loaded with cash because they cant legally accept credit or debit cards. So you have to bring cash or use their ATM and get charged a withdrawal fee. This also means they are targets for robbery so security at these places is crazy with guards, wait…

> I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit.

And CA is way ahead of MA in this regard. Dispensaries here are plagued by supply issues and frequently sell poor quality product at a premium price.

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#234

Post by kf6nux »

hackingthelema wrote: post #169
MisterTea wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For a daily or heavy smoker, a ~50% discount is a massive amount of money. Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The places are loaded with cash because they cant legally accept credit or debit cards. So you have to bring cash or use their ATM and get charged a withdrawal fee. This also means they are targets for robbery so security at these places is crazy with guards, wait…

> Its more than that. I have a few dispensarys in CA and the experience is shit. The places are loaded with cash because they cant legally accept credit or debit cards. So you have to bring cash or use their ATM and get charged a withdrawal fee. This also means they are targets for robbery so security at these places is crazy with guards, waiting rooms and check points. This meeans you have to wait upwards of 20 minu…

For additional context to my Canadian friends, it's not actually legal in the US. Various states have banned state and local law enforcement from enforcing the federal law.

Since it's still illegal federally, dispensaries can't use banks as their funds could be seized without a trial, and merchant services (credit/debit network access) can't offer services to those businesses as it would be aiding in a felony.

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#235

Post by tschwimmer »

colechristensen wrote: post #7
pjbeam wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dealers are more likely to make house calls?

I don’t know, when I lived in Mountain View I could get (legal) cannabis delivered faster than pizza.

This is not as big of an endorsement as you might think. I live in the Peninsula and I once ordered pizza from one of the big chains and it came at perfect room temperature after like an hour. I called the place to complain and they said they would refund me if I was willing to give the pizza back (!). Sure enough, about 45 minutes later a pizza guy came around and I tendered the pizza (minus a single bite) back to him.

Not the most sterling benchmark.

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#237

Post by Swannie »

a2tech wrote: post #199
GordonS wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Purely anecdotal, but my brother has a small (illicit) still and has walked me through the process - it's fairly simple, and neither of us can figure out how these methanol poisoning cases could happen by accident. Simply, the "heads" (which are high in methanol) come out of the still first, so it's easy to remove them. In addition, methanol test strips are cheap and easy to use.

Discarding the heads is obviously best practices, but from discussions with serious scientifically minded distillers (ie chemists that enjoy brewing gin and artisanal vodka at home) the amount of methanol contained in the heads of your home distillation is hardly enough to harm you. In the worst cases if you consumed a significant volume it might give you a harsh headache (and this would be a truly large amount). If…

Right, it's not only the methanol that you want to discard, there's acetone, and other nasties too.

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#238

Post by tsol »

ironmagma wrote: post #200
sneak wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that the legalization of the weed business was a deliberate choice to shift revenue streams away from black people and toward white people.

Most people who supported it said it was to get away from the deliberate imprisonment of black people who didn’t deserve criminal penalties for casual drug use. So I guess the question is, which is the worse conspiracy?

Much of the reason it isn't possible for minorities to get into legal sales is Marijuana is high barriers to entry. Here in Illinois, there are a limited number of licenses awarded to people to open dispensaries and only a fraction are small minority owned businesses

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#239

Post by ramraj07 »

nate_meurer wrote: post #217
ramraj07 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, you can make alcohol yourself. Then you discover some batteries increase the kick. Then you realize a drop of methanol just takes it to insane levels. Then 2 drops kill or blind you.

"Two drops" of even pure methanol won't do anything to you. Not even close.

Of course I don’t know the LD50 of methanol, but I do know it’s quite close to whatever gives you the kick.

Re: SF suspends cannabis tax to help dispensaries compete with drug dealers

#240

Post by codebolt »

junon wrote: post #68
darthrupert wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50% is worth the diminshed crime, and nobody should consume cannabis daily.

> nobody should consume cannabis daily Based on... what? Your opinion? Your parents? Your god? Because it's certainly not based on fact.

Based on the fact that I've personally seen the detrimental effects it can have on some peoples mental health.
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