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Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#151

Post by xzel »

such_a_casual wrote: post #127
seizethecheese wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. I hardly ever see comments about the benefits of legalization to casual weed smokers. Maybe we haven't shed the stigma yet, but this isn't just bad for drug lords and for-profit prisons, this is good for millions of consumers!

The true price of weed is like $1/gram.

Depends how its grown. RAND estimated somewhere around "225 per pound for a successful, wellmanaged operation, plus in-kind contribution of labor...". This was done in 2010 and so its a little outdated now but still a great read. http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/201...

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#152

Post by alxndr »

conceit wrote: post #94
LAMike wrote: post #10

Wow what a Black Swan event. Take something illegal and taxing it heavily has a negative impact on the black market's profit and a positive impact on the economy. Truly disrupting the space.

I'm sure the black market profit doesn't even notice. However, many operations are still considered at least gray market as the feds take down plantations.

The black market is noticing; the article ends with this:

> "The cartels, of course, are adapting to the new reality. Seizure data appears to indicate that with marijuana profits tumbling, they're switching over to heroin and meth."

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#153

Post by tanv_nadkarni »

caseysoftware wrote: post #32

> The latest data from the U.S. Border Patrol shows that last year, marijuana seizures along the southwest border tumbled to their lowest level in at least a decade. That does not mean there are less drugs being imported, just that less are being seized. I worked with the Border Patrol years ago and it was astounding how they tracked success: - When arrests increased, they celebrated that enforcement was working. - W…

All government programs tend to work like that. Recession ? Private players to be blamed and government needs to act. Economic boom ? Government programs caused that boom.

The legalization of marijuana is a much bigger battle. We will not get all the benefits of the free market unless government regulations are substantially reduced. If you cant buy Marijuana in Target or Wallmart it probably wont suffice.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#154

Post by conceit »

eru wrote: post #131
conceit wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest commercial operations are run by passionless businesses. The hydro homegrow on the other hand hardly qualifies as casual.

Who care whether your weed is grown with passion? seizethecheese and gregpilling care about the quality of the product.

Yes, and they appear pretty passionless, too. Weed does that to people. Not that I would care.

In a more serious tone, I was alluding to the Domestically grown weed that casual weed smokers buying from passionless business will never get to see.

Either way, I could have pointed out that quality control is one of the more often noted benefits, in theory.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#155

Post by School-Cotton »

facetube wrote: post #140
School-Cotton wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people (at least from the Southwest) know about this; otherwise Donald Trump's desire to "build a wall" would be incoherent.

Donald Trump's desire to "build a wall" is incoherent.

You don't understand what I meant by "incoherent". I am very pro free movement. I consider my homeland to be the multi-ethnic region consisting of the SW USA and northern Mexico and viscerally hate the idea of some man made wall dividing it.

However, it's a perfectly coherent idea: it has a concrete meaning that is easy to understand.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#156

Post by School-Cotton »

gregpilling wrote: post #149
School-Cotton wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people (at least from the Southwest) know about this; otherwise Donald Trump's desire to "build a wall" would be incoherent.

I am surprised by the number of Tucson, AZ residents (where I live) that think there already is a large wall, all across the USA. You certainly see a large wall in Nogales, AZ/ Nogales SON. It is only there for the TV cameras, since a few miles out of town it is back to dual strand barbed wire cattle fence. Everybody who lives within a few miles either side of the border knows this - people in Tucson 60 miles away ar…

I'm from Arizona too and lived in Tucson for four years :)

I'm genuinely surprised by your experience. Maybe I was simply lucky enough to only talk about border issues with more educated than average people. I guess it's because I was in college when I lived there, and mostly hung out with Latino college students.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#157

Post by ubernostrum »

tanv_nadkarni wrote: post #153
caseysoftware wrote: post #32

> The latest data from the U.S. Border Patrol shows that last year, marijuana seizures along the southwest border tumbled to their lowest level in at least a decade. That does not mean there are less drugs being imported, just that less are being seized. I worked with the Border Patrol years ago and it was astounding how they tracked success: - When arrests increased, they celebrated that enforcement was working. - W…

All government programs tend to work like that. Recession ? Private players to be blamed and government needs to act. Economic boom ? Government programs caused that boom. The legalization of marijuana is a much bigger battle. We will not get all the benefits of the free market unless government regulations are substantially reduced. If you cant buy Marijuana in Target or Wallmart it probably wont suffice.

All government programs tend to work like that. Recession ? Private players to be blamed and government needs to act. Economic boom ? Government programs caused that boom.

Recession? Poor private companies groaning under the massive burden of big-government regulation, and idiotic government "interventions" in the market are to blame! Economic boom? The miracle of the free market succeeding in spite of all obstacles! Hail the market! Down with big government!

The difference, of course, is that I don't know anyone who actually takes the "government is always the solution" line, but I do know plenty of people who take the "government is always the problem" line. So, um, nice straw man you've go there.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#158

Post by kombucha2 »

doktrin wrote: post #150
facetube wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Donald Trump's desire to "build a wall" is incoherent.

It may be unrealistic, but it seems coherent enough to me. What's so crazy about border control?

Making Mexico pay for it for one and the other crazy ideas he wraps up in it. That, indeed, does make his plan incoherent.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#159

Post by wildmusings »

tamana wrote: post #119
wildmusings wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's how I look at it: it's a trade-off like any other. There are people with unsustainable work practices in every job. It could be long hours, little sleep, performance enhancing drugs, etc. If it makes them deliver better work, they'll get rewarded for it in their career, but they're most certainly suffering consequences elsewhere. Family strain, health problems, emotional drain, loneliness. The temptation is st…

Because rational people know that people aren't always rational. Are you also opposed to those medians and guardrails on highways that impinge on your freedom to drive off the road when you so choose?

I think that's a spurious analogy. The public has no duty to build roads such as to enable your preferred suicide technique. The public has no right to tell you how many hours you can work or not. A job is a free exchange between two parties.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#160

Post by Retric »

xzel wrote: post #151
such_a_casual wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The true price of weed is like $1/gram.

Depends how its grown. RAND estimated somewhere around "225 per pound for a successful, wellmanaged operation, plus in-kind contribution of labor...". This was done in 2010 and so its a little outdated now but still a great read. http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/201...

If your forced to grow it inside a building, under artificial lighting, with heavy security and heavy regulation; then yes it's ~15$ / oz (225 per pound). Cut out that crap and use a field and it's far cheaper.

PS: I don't smoke and have no idea if 'hydroponic' is better for the plant or if it's a proxy for grown in the US and fresh. But, I suspect it's mostly about post processing.

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