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One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

latimes.com

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Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#61

Post by apotheosis »

fetus8 wrote: post #51
Noos wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people don't want a shop next to them. The stench is horrid, and the kind of people that loiter around them are the last people you want near your house. Legalizing a stupid and shitty practice because society doesn't want to enforce it doesn't make it any less stupid or shitty.

The shops don't create horrid stenches. The grow ops and processing facilities do create noxious odors, but the stores hardly produce an odor that can be smelled from the street, or even in the stores. What kind of people do you suppose loiter at these shops? From my experiences here in CO, no one loiters at these shops. The stores often have pretty tight security and attentive guards. You go in, do your business, an…

Agree - I live in SF. A few months ago, after leaving my local dispensary, I was standing out front looking up directions. The dispensary security guard politely asked me to move along. I don't know where the OP is from, but around SF you actually can't loiter around the stores.

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#62

Post by Rumudiez »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #60

Honest question: Why do newspapers, NPR, etc. often refer to pot possession / sales as being legal in California and some other states, when they're clearly illegal under federal law? There are numerous other behaviors that IIUC are illegal under U.S. federal law but are not proscribed by California law, including: aircraft hijacking, carjacking, credit card fraud, and possession of destructive devices such as missil…

It is explicitly legal in WA, CO, CA and others. Those states have successfully passed laws to this effect. Because the feds don’t/can’t enforce the federal laws prohibiting cannabis on residents of those states, it is for all intents and purposes legal, no scare-quotes required.

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#63

Post by robdachshund »

swebs wrote: post #38
newnewpdro wrote: post #28

My personal issue with how legal pot has played out is I have no interest in becoming a patron of these lifestyle shops for a variety of reasons. I also don't want my ID to be scanned for buying something still federally illegal. If I could occasionally buy marijuana products at the grocery store as part of my normal shopping, no different than my occasional purchase of whiskey or wine, then I would have at least bou…

You could just have a friend get it for you from the store. Who the hell knows what's in the stuff off the street corner or who's blood had to be spilled to get it to you.

Its pot, not crack. There's nothing to gain from tainting it. Most of the black market stuff comes from legal states too.

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#64

Post by fjp »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #60

Honest question: Why do newspapers, NPR, etc. often refer to pot possession / sales as being legal in California and some other states, when they're clearly illegal under federal law? There are numerous other behaviors that IIUC are illegal under U.S. federal law but are not proscribed by California law, including: aircraft hijacking, carjacking, credit card fraud, and possession of destructive devices such as missil…

Because California passed bills clearly delineating how, where, and in what quantities pot growing and selling can be done. The state issues licenses.

In America, this is federalism at work. States can choose to do things that the federal government explicitly does not allow, and states can choose to not do things that the federal government explicitly tells it to do. When there is enough of a conflict, it gets resolved by the courts. In this case, the federal government has just chosen not to dedicate resources to cracking down on California's pot industry. California still welcomes the DEA's efforts in CA to crack down on other things, such as pot coming in from Mexico and harder drugs being trafficked.

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#66

Post by iseeyoubydesign »

aphextron wrote: post #4

It all comes down to local control of licensing. To even operate a 100% mobile business, you have to be licensed out of a specific city. This involves all the associated cronyism, NIMBYism, and the like which goes along with local politics, and grinds the whole system to a halt. We need to adopt a statewide system like Oregon or there will be no room for smaller distributors left and we will be stuck with monopolized…

that really doesnt make sense ... In California people will drive for pot if they want it. Its a very mobile state. This local sales problem would not impact sales nearly as much as you think. But I ask , have any numbers?

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#68

Post by xyhopguy »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #8

Another big issue might be the financial industry. Marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level so banks might be reticent to get involved with providing loans or services to these businesses. Without access to credit and banking services, a lot of people who might otherwise go into business, won't.

Didn't stop Oregon. We've got 5x as many dispensaries as California and wayyyyyyyy less people. Oh and the prices are like 75% lower.

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#69

Post by denerio-a »

Noos wrote: post #49
0x4d464d48 wrote: post #18

Maybe this article overstated things and someone will clear it up in the comments but that was painful to read. I live in Vancouver and weed's been officially legal throughout the Canada for several weeks now. It's still relatively new but nothing noticeable has changed aside from fewer people discussing such a frivilous and previously mishandled issue. It's not perfect but far, far, far better than strict prohibitio…

Some people don't want a shop next to them. The stench is horrid, and the kind of people that loiter around them are the last people you want near your house. Legalizing a stupid and shitty practice because society doesn't want to enforce it doesn't make it any less stupid or shitty.

Making a stupid and shitty comment because mods don’t remove stupid and shitty comments doesn’t make your stupid and shitty 1930s era blinkered, prejudiced, mean hearted, factually and objectively incorrect comment any less stupid or shit.

Re: One year into legal pot sales California doesn’t have expected bustling industry

#70

Post by sonnyblarney »

The market was already functioning - now with taxes, regulations, overhead ... who wants to have to find a new supplier and pay for all of that?

There may be real competition between the black market and over the counter market that will play out, particularly if the former networks are already well established.

The regulations and controls on advertising are fairly strong here, for 'vaping' in Quebec for example, windows have to be covered, and there can hardly be any wording on the signage. No advertising, no way to get the word out.

Now - for a very heavily established industry, with a very addictive product like smoking ... they can still thrive.

But for a relatively new and established industry, we'll be able to see just how powerful advertising, branding, sponsorships really are in terms of influencing behaviour.

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